Clinical Case of Asthma in African American Boy Case Study

Case Description

Asthma is a complex and challenging condition that affects the lives of numerous people, reducing the quality of their lives significantly unless addressed properly. According to Boulet et al. (2019), asthma is a “heterogeneous disease, usually characterised by chronic airway inflammation” (p. 5). Furthermore, according to the authors, asthma is associated with the symptoms such as “wheeze, shortness of breath, chest tightness and cough that vary over time and in intensity, together with variable expiratory airflow limitation” (Boulet et al., 2019, p. 5). According to the World Health Organization (2020), in 2019, asthma affected a total of 262 million people worldwide, causing the death of 445,000 people globally.

The patient under analysis is an eight-year-old African American boy, who has been complaining about fatigue for a substantial amount of time, according to his mother. However, the specified issue has not been viewed as serious up until the past week, when he experienced sudden fatigue and difficulty breathing, after which he briefly fainted. The further spirometry test carried out by health experts who arrived immediately indicated that the patient had asthma. By combining the use of corticosteroids and exercises into the treatment plan, as well as educating the patient and his parents about the prevention and management of asthma attacks, a healthcare practitioner will be able to improve the patient’s condition.

Intervention Justification

As a health professional, one must focus on patient education and management of immediate threats first, thus, paying the roles of an administrator and an educator. The proposed choice of measures can be justified by the need to address both short-and long-term goals of improving the patient’s lifestyle (Saxby et al., 2019). Currently, the patient and his parents have a rather generic concept of asthma and the means of managing it. Although it might seem sufficient for identifying a health emergency and addressing it properly, it, in fact, is not enough to ensure long-term improvements (Culmer et al., 2020). Specifically, the patient and especially his parents must be provided with the information concerning the key threats to his health and the means of removing or avoiding them (Agusala et al., 2018). The specified intervention targets tall components of ICF, namely, health condition (asthma management), body functions (allergic reactions), activities (physical exercises), participation (patient education), environmental factors (presence of allergens), and personal factors (the patient’s age) (Van Leeuwen et al., 2020). Thus, it must be deemed as a reasonable treatment for the specified patient.

Admittedly, there are certain limitations to discuss. Specifically, the use of video instructions may be challenging for a young patient due to the lack of an immediate contact with the healthcare expert (Park et al., 2018). However, the problem can be mitigated by involving the patient’s parents into the process to assist him (Strömberg Celind et al., 2019). Furthermore, the application of the teach-back method is likely to work particularly will with the boy since it will allow increasing the extent of understanding in the patient (Yen et al., 2019) Therefore, the inclusion of a thorough course of patient education is entirely justified in the case under analysis.

Finally, the use of corticosteroids as the means of managing the issue of asthma directly and controlling the patient’s breathing should be seen as vital. Serving as anti-inflammatory medicine, corticosteroids reinforce the function of dermal cells responsible for the management of the respiratory process (Ramadan et al., 2019). As a result, controlled breathing and the resulting alleviation of the effect of factors causing an asthma attack in a patient, such as dry air or pollen, will be achieved. Consequently, the patient will remain in control of the situation, addressing the breathing issue.

The activity to be used for improving the patient’s well-being will consist of several lessons and exercises provided with the help of video examples and by communicating with a nurse, both directly and digitally. The proposed combination will provide the patient with direct guidelines concerning the ways of identifying, managing, and controlling asthma (Von Schantz et al., 2018). Moreover, opportunities for minimization f asthma symptoms in the patient will be possible.

Another Health Professional

In addition to the Advanced Practice Nurse, one must also acknowledge the importance of the role of a therapist in the specified context. Namely, the nurse educator will play the role of a leader in the specified context, guiding the patient and his parents (Ramsey et al., 2020). Specifically, while an APN will play mostly the administrative role, namely, the planning and supervision of the treatment implementation process, a nurse educator will provide the crucial information and guidance to the patient and his parents (Jackson et al., 2018). For instance, as a part of an interprofessional team, a nurse educator will develop a series of video instructions that not only the specified patient but also other children and adolescents with asthma in the target community can use (Ramsey et al., 2020). Additionally, a nurse educator will communicate with the parents to guide them to assist their child in the best way possible.

The specified role will allow targeting several specific components of the ICF. Particularly, the specified expert will play not only the educational role, but also that one of introducing core activities into the treatment process. For example, using online counseling sessions for the patient and his parents will represent an activity that will increase the participation of the specified stakeholders and improve the boy’s health condition. Thus, three components of the ICF model, namely, “Activity,” “Participation,” and “Health Condition,” will be addressed with the help of the proposed intervention. Namely, the activity in question will imply the introduction of essential information and instructions to the family. In turn, the participation process will be launched by making the process interactive and encouraging nurse-patient and nurse-parent communication. Finally, the “Health Condition” component will be addressed by creating premises for an improvement in the boy’s health (Jackson et al., 2018). Thus, the introduction of a nurse educator as a separate expert into the specified framework is justified.

Professionalism Characteristics

In order to address the case at hand and ensure that the boy is provided with the required resources, including medication, therapy, and instructions, a healthcare expert is required to have several specific professional characteristics. The first and the most important quality to expect in a healthcare professional in the specified setting is high level of commitment. It is crucial for a healthcare expert to be fully devoted to the patient’s needs and prioritize the patient’s well-being (Al-Yami et al., 2018). The specified quality is especially necessary in the instance of a disorder representing as great a threat to the patient’s health as asthma (Al-Yami et al., 2018). Furthermore, the fact that it is the child whose needs must be addressed predetermines increased commitment and focus on changes in the patient’s well-being (Al-Yami et al., 2018). Therefore, a nurse must demonstrate high levels of commitment.

Furthermore, empathy is required to maintain the extent of the healthcare professional’s efficiency. Without an empathetic attitude toward the patient, one will be unable to establish the rapport needed to educate him successfully since the patient and his parents will be unable to engage in a conversation (Adamson et al., 2018). Moreover, without the necessary level of empathy, ensuring that the patient and his family remain calm and positive about the further treatment prospects. Similarly, the use of empathy in communication with the patient and his parents will help minimize the emotional distress that they are currently experiencing, which, in turn, will reduce the threat of mental health issues. Among core mental health concerns that the focus on empathy will allow alleviating, one must mention anxiety and stress, which reduce the quality of patients’ lives to a significant extent (Adamson et al., 2018). Moreover, the described issues lead to the aggravation of the condition (Adamson et al., 2018). Therefore, empathy and compassion must also be included into the list of characteristics that a healthcare expert must possess.

Person-/Community-Centered Strategies

Finally, one must mention the necessity to keep the implementation of the specified strategies person- and community-oriented. Specifically, it is vital to design a strategy that will meet the specific needs of the patient in question, while also providing the bulk for the future design of a community-oriented framework. Namely, a healthcare expert must provide the patient’s parents access to critical data concerning the patient’s well-being and changes in his condition. The proposed step might seem slightly disruptive to the process of nursing care; however, it will lead to an improvement in the management of the patient’s needs. Namely, offering the parents greater control over the information about the boy’s condition and changes within it, one will create premises for awareness building and the development of a thorough and detailed understanding of how child asthma can be addressed.

Moreover, to meet the needs of the community, a nurse will have to focus on promoting awareness on a community level. Specifically, general information concerning the identification of asthma in children and the means of addressing the condition must be dispersed among community members (Jackson et al., 2018). The specified task can be accomplished by creating online and offline resources containing key information about the disease and the means of managing it, as well as the ways of addressing a healthcare expert. It is expected that the specified set of tools will allow parents to prevent asthma development in their children or locate the emergent concern before it becomes a substantial threat to a child’s health.

References

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