The goal of a Gastrointestinal Care Plan is to educate and support the patient. This plan should contain sample nursing diagnoses for GI disorders, recommendations for a healthy lifestyle, and referrals to specialists. To learn more, download the free sample plan below. It will help you to create your own plan! You can easily edit and add your own content as needed. You can even include your own standing orders! And don’t forget to share it with your patients!
Sample nursing diagnoses for GI disorders
Among the most common GI disorders are ulcers and bleeding. Blood leaking from the GI tract causes bleeding. It may also lead to a number of symptoms such as a rapid heartbeat, clammy skin, pallor, and cool extremities. Patients with GI bleeding may experience chronic anemia and a lack of energy. The patient will often verbally report that they are less fatigued than before and will be able to perform daily activities. Oftentimes, the patient will be active during interventions and be interested in learning about how to prevent fatigue in the future.
Detailed information regarding pain is essential to establishing a more accurate clinical picture of GI pathology. A comprehensive abdominal assessment begins with the right upper quadrant and moves through each of the remaining quadrants. Afterwards, the patient’s region of pain is evaluated. Abdominal assessment techniques include palpation, auscultation, and inspection. Advanced practice nurses can also perform percussion. Anticoagulants may also include protamine and vitamin K. NSAIDs may include tetracycline, aspirin, and clotting agents.
A GI care plan should include three different samples of nursing diagnoses for the patient. These include an appendectomy, gastroenteritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and live cirrhosis. For hemorrhoids, nursing management depends on the type and severity of the condition. A nurse will need to address the patient’s pain and bowel habits to manage the hemorrhoids. Additionally, pyloric stenosis, gastric hemorrhage, and cancer of the esophagus are indications for surgical intervention.
Recommendations for a healthy lifestyle
There are many foods that are good for your health, but a high-fiber diet is especially beneficial if you suffer from acid reflux. Fruits and vegetables are packed with fiber and are full of disease-fighting compounds, so consuming them regularly is important for improved digestive health. Listed below are some foods to consider eating more of. Also, limit your intake of animal fat and sugar.
Importance of Nursing Care Plans for Nurses – What is Their Role?
Referrals to specialists
A recent survey found that patients who need referrals to a specialist for a specific condition often report having a harder time obtaining them. Only 18 percent of patients reported having an easy time getting referrals. Of those patients, 17 percent said they had not needed a referral in the past year. In this article, we look at how easy or difficult referrals are for patients and examine the impact of health maintenance organization (HMO) policies on the quality of referrals to specialists.
For patients with HMO or PPO plans, they must be referred to a gastroenterologist by their primary care physician, although there are some exceptions. Certain surgical procedures, such as colonoscopies, may require a second opinion. Although gastroenterologists may use any hospital facility that accepts your plan, many patients still require a referral to get the treatment they need. Patients should make sure that their gastroenterologist is on their plan before scheduling an appointment.
The rates of specialty referrals vary depending on the principal symptoms for which patients visit their primary care physician. However, there are some significant increases in the referral rates of patients with certain symptoms. This may be because of a lack of diagnostic documentation or because patients were unaware of their condition. The researchers also noted that the patients who did visit their primary care physician were more likely to be referred to a gastroenterologist if they have a specific problem or have a family history of gastrointestinal disease.
