ALTERED HEALTH STATUS AND HEALTH PROMOTION IN MENTAL HEALTH NURSING Essay

ALTERED HEALTH STATUS AND HEALTH PROMOTION IN MENTAL HEALTH NURSING - Essay Example His unusual behaviours included the following. He entered without a licence and pointed a gun at a shop assistant. He stabbed a friend during an unprovoked argument. Also, he committed the offence of burglary, and his fingerprints were found at the scene of the crime. Mr. Abouja was imprisoned and then later transferred to a forensic ward due to mental illness. While in the forensic unit, Mr. Abouja suffered a cardiac arrest secondary to a bi-lateral massive pulmonary embolism. After having suffered a pulmonary embolism, Mr. Abouja should be assessed for further risk in the near future. â€Å"Confirmation of pulmonary embolism (PE) must be followed by risk stratification in order to obtain information on short-term prognosis and determine the need for more aggressive therapy such as thrombolysis or surgical interventional embolectomy† (Konstantinides, pp. 69). The medication Mr. Abouja has been placed on is Warfarin, also commonly known as rat poison. The levels of Warfarin ha ve to be carefully evaluated, to ensure that the patient is not poisoned himself. Basically, Warfarin is most likely going to be used for a lengthier amount of time in order to treat Mr. Abouja’s illness. â€Å"A vitamin K antagonist such as warfarin should be considered for long-term treatment† (Stein, 2007, pp. 129). There is a timetable for how long the Warfarin should be used. â€Å"Initial treatment [with Warfarin] is usually for a minimum of three to six months† (James, Ortel, & Tapson, 2007, pp. 42). However, the nurse should make sure â€Å"In healthy subjects, sildenafil alone or in combination with warfarin or aspirin did not affect bleeding time or prothrombin time. However, in a recent study, a transient prolongation of bleeding time 1 hour after administration of 100 mg of sildenafil was demonstrated† (Broderick, 2005, pp. 215). Therefore, bleeding complications are possible when taking Warfarin. Generally, Warfarin is used in these types of situations such as the one in which Mr. Abouja found himself in. â€Å"[Warfarin, also known as Coumadin, is] used to prevent the formation of blood clots in the heart and to prevent stroke in patients with conditions such as atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter†¦[usage] must be carefully monitored by a [regularly-administered] blood test†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Cohen, 2010, pp. 196). Mr. Abouja was given Warfarin for the Pulmonary Embolism. He is being given 3 mg of Risperdal (Risperidone) on a daily basis, a commonly-used antipsychotic. Some of the side effects Mr. Abouja is suffering, among others, are muscle weakness and sexual dysfunction. Mr. Abouja’s mother had a history of heart disease or PE; his father refused to be in touch due to his offences. Mr. Abouja was born in Angola. 2. Identify appropriate assessment tool/framework and provide rationale for ?your choice of tool/framework. (200 words) The assessment measures which would be appropriate to use as a framework f or care would be: 1) a physical assessment; 2) a psychological assessment; and 3) a emotional assessment. The patient had a physical assessment completed upon him. This physical assessment is rationalised by the fact that he needs to have an intervention for any physical problems that may come up since he has just had a major health issue with the cardiac arrest. Interestingly enough, Mr. Abouja had no pain in his upper left arm, which is recognizant of having heart problems—namely, risk of cardiac arrest. The physical assessme