PathoPharmacology Paper Clinical Prompt 1
Introduction
The patient is a 36-year-old female, single parent of 2-year-old twins and a native of the Eastern shore of Maryland. She currently works in a seafood processing plant in Southern Maryland. Her current job involves transferring cleaned and filleted fish to ice for shipping to distributors. Patient presents to the emergency department with acute chest tightness, wheezing, mild swelling of the lips, urticaria, and dyspnea. She reports eating seafood at an outdoor festival and walked to the hospital. She reports that she has been noticing increasing dyspnea over the last several weeks and wonders if that means her asthma is “getting worse”. She was diagnosed with new onset allergen related…show more content… Fumes and gases, organic and chemical dusts, and other chemicals in the work place can stimulate occupational asthma. Chemicals that can provoke an asthmatic attack are the sulfites used in food processing and as preservatives added to beer, wine, and fresh vegetables (Porth, 2011). Another risk factor is the interrelationship between asthma and rhinitis. The patient has a history of chronic rhinitis, which can increase her risk of developing asthma. Patients with asthma often have other allergic problems like rhinitis, skin rash, or pruritus. Chronic uncontrolled rhinitis can worsen asthma attacks. Clinical studies have shown that the majority of workers with occupational asthma also suffer from rhinitis and symptoms often precede the onset of occupational asthma (Vandenplas,…show more content… The nurse should continue to monitor daytime asthma symptoms (including dyspnea, chest tightness, and wheezing), nocturnal awakening as a result of symptoms, and frequency of use of SABA for symptoms relief, and inability or difficulty performing normal activities. Also, nurse should monitor pulmonary function with either a spirometer or a peak flow meter, and pharmacotherapy for adherence and potential side effects (National Center for Biotechnology Information [NCBI], 2007). The nurse should plan to administer supplemental oxygen to achieve oxygen saturation above 90%, bronchodilators as prescribed, closely monitor patient’s fluid balance, teach patient and family about asthma control and prevention, assess patient’s ability to use inhaler, and closely monitor when therapy needs to be adjusted to minimize adverse reactions (Xiong,
