The Lewis Blackman Story - Essay Example

Helen Haskell starts her presentation by talking about her son Luis because he died out of a similar condition that she is about present to her audience following elective surgery. She is attached to him because of the role he played in the society, at only 15 years of age; Lewis was a top student in his class, a soccer player, and a natural comedian. She feels that the presentation is mostly about Hypovolemic shock patients, her late son had succumbed to the same. Helen thinks that beginning her presentation by mentioning his son in the perspective of all the other hypovolemic shock patients brings out the seriousness of what she is about to present.

Ketorolac is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug that is used as an analgesic. It employed during the treatment of both moderate to severe pain mostly in adults (Kluwer, 2018). It is given to patients before or after surgeries or other medical procedures. The medication works by refraining or blocking your body from producing specific substances that are known to result in inflammation. The effect is essential in decreasing the amount of pain, swelling, and fever that a patient could be undergoing. This medication could be administered in several ways depending on varying factors. It could be delivered by mouth, intravenous, ocular, intranasal or intramuscular. The dosage is based on your response to treatment or response to medication. It is not advisable to take it frequently, for more than five days or to increase the dosage. For instance, people aged between two and sixteen should take a single-dose treatment of 1 mg/kg to a maximum value of 30 mg intramuscular or 0.5 mg/kg to a maximum of 15 mg intravenous. The maximum dosage required for this age group is one. The drug is indicated for the management of short-term moderate and severe acute pain that needs analgesia at the level of opioid.

An output of urine is often used as a universal marker for several things, but for the case of hypovolemic shock, it is used as a guide to resuscitate fluids in patients that are critically ill (Chenitz, 2012). The amount of ketorolac given to a patient is determined by several factors, one of the elements is that the fact that Luis was not producing urine, was supposed to inform the medical attendants type and amount of medication to use. It was also meant to help the attendants to determine the means through which the drug would be administered. Lack of urine output causes accumulation of fluids in the patients that are critically ill and is therefore associated with high mortality rates. A patient presenting with lack of urine output should, therefore, help decide whether they will administer fluids or not, and if so, it helps them decide the type and amount of fluid to be administered.

As Helen Haskell explains what happened in the hospital, she particularly mentions that the nurses that attended to her son were young and with no doubt, lacked relevant experience. The reason why she considered them that way was that, according to her judgment, none of the young nurses or residents had any comprehension of the severity of her sons condition. They never thought the state of the patient would deteriorate because they had downgraded the seriousness of the situation and reinterpreted the preconception. The medics, therefore, lacked accommodation from any deviation from the optimum. The above-mentioned case indeed exhibits a sense of lack of experience from the young caregivers, despite being so passionate about their jobs. It is the reason why they dismissed any implications of a blood pressure that was undetectable because none of them thought the condition would deteriorate.

Lewiss condition apparently developed during the weekend. The boy grew an inside induced large duodenal ulcer, which was preceded by over thirty hours of alarming clinical decline including 24 hours with virtually no urine output. The misdiagnoses by the medical attendants that led to the further administration of wrong amounts of medicine worsened the boys condition. By the time intervention was discovered and put into action, the damage had already been done. With no plan to handle the situation, the boy passed on.

It is clear that Lewis died as a result of septic shock. Septic shock can be described as a serious medical condition that occurs when a body organ is injured or is damaged due to infection (otherwise referred to as sepsis) leads to deficient levels of blood pressure and abnormal metabolic rates (Andre Kalil, 2018). It presents with hypotension due to vasodilation, a decrease in the amount of urine output, elevation of lactate levels, high blood pressure, etc. To efficiently handle the condition, the nurse providing care should collaborate with other healthcare providers to identify the actual site and source of the sepsis along with the particular organisms involved. The patient should then be monitored closely for fever before administering the IV fluids that have been prescribed. Fluid levels should also be observed as well the patients fluid intake and output, hemodynamic status and nutrition.

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY Andre Kalil, M. (2018, January 5th). Septic Shock Treatment & Management. Medscape.

Chenitz, K. B. (2012, September 30). Decreased urine output and acute kidney injury in the PACU. NCBI, 513-526.

Kluwer, W. (2018, February 2). Ketorolac . Drugs.com Know more. Be sure.