Clostridium Difficile Case Study

Words: 1266

Pages: 6

Open Document

Introduction
An 85 year old female was admitted to the ER early in the morning. Her history records showed that she had a urinary tract infection 2 weeks prior to admission. Medicines to treat a urinary tract infection include Sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, Amoxicillin, and Ampicillin; all of which are antibiotics. Antibiotics can be harmful to the intestines because they may kill good bacteria along with bad bacteria; antibiotics may upset the balance of organisms living in the intestines. There are over 1,000 harmless species of microorganisms living in our intestines, if the bacteria's balance is upset, they can become fatal; an example of this is the bacteria Clostridium difficile. (http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/clostridium-difficile-colitis)
Clostridium difficile is diagnosed in patients who take antibiotics. As C. difficile overgrows it releases toxins that attack the lining of the intestines. This causes diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, weight loss, and eventually a visit to the hospital. At the hospital, the doctor will complete a full evaluation. The patient will be asked of symptoms and the length of time the pain has been occurring for. Answering these things will allow for the doctor make the correct diagnosis. (http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/clostridium-difficile-colitis)
Case Presentation …show more content…
On the morning of admission she had a fever of 102.6 degrees Fahrenheit and a blood pressure of 99/64. She had tachycardia with a heart rate of 122 beats per minute, which is twenty-two beats over the normal. The female also had a respiratory rate of 24, which is considered a few breaths above normal. The evaluation taken in the ER states she had normal lung sounds and a regular cardiac rhythm. An abdominal exam revealed normal tenderness to palpation. This information then led him to look at her history

Clostridium Difficile Colitis Case Study Essay

The patient I chose for this case study is a 98-year-old female, who lives next door to her son and daughter in law. She is a widow of six years and has been retired for over twenty years now. Her house is a one-story rancher, that has been made handicap accessible for getting in and out of the house. She was able to live independently, with her son available for help whenever she needed it. The patient wears glasses due to poor vison, wears hearing aids, and is right hand dominate. The patient’s…

Words 1855 - Pages 8

1970's Clostridium Di

the patients as they would for a patient with ulcerative colitis. A few years later Clostridium…

Words 1752 - Pages 8

Bioscience Case study Essay

susceptibility to ticarcillin/clavulanic acid. Clostridium Difficile can be found in stool specimens, it is a spor that forms bacterium. However, the pre-eminent risk factors were the use of antibiotics and that he had undergone surgery. These two factors contributed to the development of the patient’s C. defficile infection. The use of antibiotics persecribed for treatment in short courses by oral, IV or IM routes are mainly the causes of C. difficile infection. Direct contact or by undergoing surgery…

Words 1118 - Pages 5

Clostridium Difficile

ever more difficult to combat. Clostridium difficile is the primary infection associated with antibiotic resistant induced diarrhea, one of the major side effects which can be caused by any antibiotic. Although antibiotics dominated the original response to this infection, Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) has been discovered to be one of the most effective ways to combat Clostridium difficile. Compared to other methods of antibiotics, where the Clostridium difficile becomes resistant and relapse…

Words 1114 - Pages 5

Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Essay

Dip HE Adult Nursing Cohort 1-11 220PH – Research and Evidence Based Practice Candidate Number: 2994886 A Report On the Evidence: ‘Does hypochlorite cleaning in the hospital environment reduce the risk of clostridium difficile infection?’ Set Word Limit: 2000 Word Count: 2200 (+10%) Submission Due Date: 18/09/2012 Actual Submission Date: 18/09/2012 Introduction The International Council of Nurses (2009) raised some key points in the…

Words 3117 - Pages 13

C. Diff Essay

Clostridium Difficile Ebony G Williams Hodges University MLS 2500 Professor Christine Sanders April 6, 2011 Abstract Clostridium Difficile is now considered to be one the most important causes of health care-associated infections. C. diff infections are also emerging in the community and in animals used for food, and are no longer viewed simply as unpleasant complications that follow antibiotic therapy. Since 2001, the prevalence and severity of C. diff infection has increased significantly…

Words 1607 - Pages 7

C. Dificile Essay

C. Diff—What’s It To You? Objectives: -Describe C-Diff -Discuss the transmission of CDiff -Describe the actions of healthcare facilities in response Outline: • We have all heard of Clostridium Difficile or “C-Diff” as we commonly hear it being used in our healthcare facilities. What exactly is C-Diff? The definition from the CDC says it is a spore forming, gram positive anaerobic (meaning it can grow without oxygen) bacteria that produces two exotoxins (a potent toxin formed and excreted…

Words 700 - Pages 3

NUR598 Magnet Certification Essay example

findings such as the findings from the nursing research that linked proton pump inhibitors (PPI) therapy and clostridium difficile infection (CDI) are essential in any clinical setting. The concept of providing excellent patient care is the backbone of many nursing research utilization project proposal. Diabetic patients and psychiatric patients in medical floors will benefit from research studies that not only seek out the link between knowledgeable nurses and better patient outcomes, but that also puts…

Words 696 - Pages 3

Med bac study guide Essay examples

Affected by incubation, time, pH, temperature, & osmotic pressure Damage-The agent, host response, or both cause tissue damage Outcome-Agent wins out, host wins out, or they coexist Big Four Gram - cocci Gram + rods Moraxella Bacillus Neisseria Clostridium Veillonella Listeria Gram - rods Gram + cocci Pseudomonas Staphylococcus Shigella Streptococcus Escherichia Enterococcus Fastidious Gram - rods Haemophilus Brucella Bartonella “Not so typical Bacteria” Mycoplasma Mycobacterium Rickettsia Chlamydia…

Words 2685 - Pages 11

Essay on Causative Agent Study Sheet

Causative Agent Study Sheet Angela Salemi Gram Negative Bacteria Scientific Name Common/Slang names System it affects Interesting Text page Bartonella henselae Cat-scratch disease Skin/eyes Transmitted through flea feces on cat claws, which scratch the skin and cause the infection 653-654 Anaplasma phagocytophilum HGA or Human Granulocytic anaplasmosis Lymphatic Tick borne illness; causes flu-like symptoms 660 Ehrlichia Ehrlichiosis Lymphatic Vector is the lone star tick; main animal reservoir…

Words 3632 - Pages 15