Pathophysiology Disorder Research

The advanced nurse practitioner has the advanced knowledge and skills to perform a full head to that examination that can help detect abnormities that are related to health disorders. To properly diagnose, it is also necessary to obtain the patient’s family medical history, social history and a current list of medications. With the advancement of the current medical technology, many disorders that were once considered undiagnosed are now easily found and quickly treated. In this paper, a patient case scenario will be selected. Based on the case a disorder will be identified and described. Based on the clinical presentation of this patient’s assessment, the selected diagnosis will be anemia secondary to intestinal bleeding. Epidemiological Trends of Anemia Epidemiology trends are vital to understand a healthcare condition and the effects it has on the health of the community.

Research shows that an average of 5. 6% of the United States population meets the criteria of being considered anemic. Patients that are at risk for anemia are women of reproductive age and the aging population (Le, 2016). The patient’s vital signs may show, hypotension due to low blood volume, tachycardia due to the heart trying to compensate by increasing the stroke volume and low oxygen levels due to tissue hypoxia. Causes of Anemia Anemia is a very common health condition that affects 24% of the overall population and approximately 1. 62 million people and is typically caused by poor iron, folic acid, and B12 intake and or chronic blood loss (Shahriari-Ahmadi, Shalbaf, Masoodi, Shalbaf, & Sadeghi, 2017). Anemia can be caused by multiple underlying conditions that required extensive medical examinations.

There are many different types of anemias some are classified by the shape size or color of the erythrocyte. In severe blood loss cases, the small amount of oxygenated blood only gets delivered to the major organs such as the heart lungs and the brain and a low urine output (McCance & Huether, 2019). Patient Education Patient education is imperative for the treatment and prevention of anemia. The advanced nurse should recognize that anemia education should be easily understood and given to the patients and their caregiver. Patients need to educate about the importance of oral vitamin intake. Some anemia may not be preventable but can be managed by eating foods that are rich in iron, folic acid, vitamin D, vitamin C, meats dairy, green vegetables dairy and cereals.

Additional testing includes an iron test which measures the blood iron levels, B12 levels, folic acid, vitamin D level and ferritin levels which is a protein that stores and releases iron, a peripheral smear, occult blood studies, reticular count, kidney and liver function test (McCance & Huether, 2019). To properly treat the anemia, the advanced nurse practitioner should evaluate the underlying cause of the anemia and determine if the patient may need a blood transfusion, intravenous fluid replacement, oxygen therapy, oral vitamins, iron, and folic acid supplements and drugs that help stimulate erythrocyte production in the bone marrow. In the above case, the patient symptoms and the blood in stool were significant of anemia due to an underlying cause. To rule out other health disorders, this patent should also have diagnostic testing performed such as an abdominal computerized axial tomography (CAT) exam, colonoscopy, endoscopy, and gastrointestinal series.

Lastly, anemic patients should also be referred to the specialist such as the hematologist, nutritionist, and gastroenterologist. This test is necessary for the vulnerable population because it helps reduce their mortality rates (Arnold et al. Lastly, some of the lab test and diagnostic test for colorectal cancer careening would be similar as to the exams for anemia. Conclusion Anemias that are not properly treated are associated with worse patient outcomes. Therefore, patients that are newly diagnosed with anemia should be properly assessed, diagnosed and managed. Anemias must be treated based on the underlying cause and the patient’s clinical presentation. , Rademaker, A. , Wolf, M. S. , Lui, D. , Lucas, G. The prevalence of anemia and in the US population (NHANES 2003-2012). PLoS One, 11, 1-14.