Recumbent patient Flashcards

1
Q

Define what is meant when a patient is ‘recumbent’

A
  • Recumbency = Lying down
  • A recumbent animal may be unable to rise, turn or lie in any other direction, requiring to be regularly turned

Can get different degrees

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2
Q

Define Ventral recumbency

A

Lying on its belly

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3
Q

Define Dorsal recumbency

A

Lying on its back

In surgery, patient’s are unlikely to stay, when they are concious

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4
Q

Define Sternal recumbency

A

Lying on its sternum (chest) or propped up

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5
Q

Define Lateral recumbency

A

Lying on its side

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6
Q

Why might a patient become recumbent?

A
  • Injuries
  • CCL surgery
  • Neurological disease
  • Recovering from anaesthesia
    (temporarily)
  • Multiple fractures
  • Amputations
  • Severe surgery
    (Spinal, Orthopaedic)
  • High dose, long term analgesic or pain meds
  • Severe ear infections
    (Especially middle ear)

Middle ear infections - secondary to Labrinthitis, due to inflammation + meningitis (can go on for 3 weeks, requiring 24/7 care)

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7
Q

How can you assess a patient’s ability to mobilise adequately?

A
  • Questionnaries
  • Visual examination
  • Question the client - Is it acute? Chronic?
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8
Q

When assessing the patient’s ability to mobilise, what must you take into consideration?

A
  • What is normal for the species
  • What is normal fot the patient (Exercise routine + what their potential limitations are)
  • Observations
  • Examinations
  • What is the patient’s score on the mobility assessment scale?
  • Evaluate the patients:
    = Gait
    = Posture
    = Weight distrubtion
  • Evaluate movement
    = Is it fully or partially recumbent?
    = Weakness?
    = Paresis?
    = Stiffness?
    = Unwilling to move?

  • Mobility scale = Assess gait, easier to use for partial recumbency
  • Gait = Contorted posture = pain or neurological
  • Weight distribution = May guard abdomen or painful
  • Is it fully or partially recumbent? = Could be due to spinal trauma or paralysis
  • Unwilling to move? = Can be confused with:
    = Weakness
    = Dehydration
    = Too painful
    = Too stresssed
    = Scared
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9
Q

As a veterinary nurse, you need to consider the behaviours the animal will or may find it difficult to perform themselves.

What 10 natural behaviours can nurses help with nursing interventions?

A
  1. Eating
  2. Drinking
  3. Urinating
  4. Defecating
  5. Thermoregulating
  6. Turning
  7. Mobilising
  8. Exercising
  9. Grooming
  10. Washing
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10
Q

What nursing interventions can be used for patients that require help with eating?

A
  • Tube feeding
  • Syringe feeding
  • Feeding tubes
  • Encouragement/tempt
  • Adjust contistany of food
  • Heat food for palatability
  • Change foods
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11
Q

What nursing interventions can be used for patients that require help with drinking?

A
  • IVFT
  • Encouragement
  • Moistien mucous membranes
  • Subcut fluids
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12
Q

What nursing interventions can be used for patients that require help with urinating + defecating?

A
  • Provide absorbant bedding
  • Inco pads
  • Urinary catheters
  • Regular checks
  • Spot cleaning
  • Laxatives
  • Enema
  • Remove soiled urine from kennel + bedding
  • Provide regular opportunities to urinate (even if w/use of moving aids)

  • Remember = urine contains ammonia = burns/scalds the skin
  • Urinary catheters = cause significant irritation to the urethra = why the procedure should be as sterile as possible
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13
Q

What nursing interventions can be used for patients that require help with thermoregulation?

A
  • Vetbeds
  • Cold washes = cool down
  • Bear huggers = heat up
  • Heat pads
  • Hot hands
  • Adjust environmental temperature
  • Fans
  • Warm subcut fluids
  • Warm IVFT
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14
Q

What nursing interventions can be used for patients that require help with turning?

A
  • Turn every 1hr
  • Turn to prevent pressure sores
  • Prevent hypostatic pneumonia
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15
Q

What nursing interventions can be used for patients that require help with mobilising?

A
  • Provide assistance aids
  • Strechers
  • Slings
  • Towels
  • Regular movements to keep blood circulating
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16
Q

What nursing interventions can be used for patients that require help with exercising?

A
  • Important to prevent sarcopenia or muscle atrophy = hard to build, easy to loose
  • Mobility aids
  • Regular mvoements to encourage circulation
17
Q

What nursing interventions can be used for patients that require help with grooming?

A
  • Brushing
  • Wiping
  • De-matting
18
Q

What nursing interventions can be used for patients that require help with washing?

A
  • Baths
  • Remove soiled matter
  • Drying
  • Shampoo (medicated, allergy-specific, skin disease, antibacterial etc)
19
Q

In simple terms, how can you manually express the patient’s bladder?

A
  1. Palpate the bladder
  2. Caudal of the abdomen
  3. If its full, will feel like a small fluid sac
  4. Squeeze in a caudal motion, to express + stimulate urination
20
Q

What are the actual or potential problems that can be associated with recumbency?

A
  • Pressure sores
  • Urine scalding
  • Lack of lymph drainage = due to fluid build up in irregular places, within the thoracic cavity - pools in the lungs, on the side the patient is recumbent on
  • Problems eating + drinking normally
  • Problems w/ urinating + defecation
  • Soiling of skin + fur
  • Hypostatic pneumonia
  • Hypothermia
  • Hyperthermia
    (unable to move from heat source)
  • Decubitus ulcers
21
Q

What species that presents with a blocked bladder, is considered an emergency?

A

Cats!

22
Q

What is the name given to the condtion when cats get a blocked bladder?

A

Feline Urethral Obstruction

23
Q

Why is Feline Urethral Obstruction (FUO) lethal?

A

The pressure build up toxins or can burst the bladder and can die within 24hrs, without prompt treatment + extreamly painful

When the cat is unable to pass urine, the kidneys are no longer able to remove toxins out of the body + or maintain the body’s electrolytes.

As it will eventually lead to:
* Inflammation of the urinary tract
* Kidney damage
* Heart arrhythmias
* Peritonitis
* Cystisis
* Death

Peritonitis = inflammation of the mm that lines the peritoneum (abdominal cavity) = fatal

24
Q

What causes FUO?

A
  • Urolithiasis
  • Strictures
  • Tumors
  • Urethral plugs
  • Mechanical blockages, secondary to urethral spasms or swelling, due to inflammation in the lower urinary tract
  • Dehydration

Urethral plugs = blockage made from mucus, protein + cells

25
Q

True or False.

Females are of greater risk of developing FUO than males.

A

False, males are more susceptible to this, due to their length + narrowing urethra

26
Q

What increases the risk of Cats developing FUO?

A
  • Obesity
  • Multi-cat households (stress)
  • All-dry food diet
  • Dehydration
  • Restricted access to outdoors
  • History of UTIs
  • Males, 1 - 10 y/o
  • Stress
27
Q

What does “turgid” mean?

A

Swollen

28
Q

Why does pressure on the bladder cause kidney damage?

A

Because the swollen bladder puts pressure on the kidneys, which causes damage

29
Q

What is a behaviour that can lead to a blocked bladder, associated with husbandry?

A
  • Stress + retention of elimination.
  • This can be caused by providing more than 1 litter tray and/or spot cleaning this regularly.
  • This can cause discomfort + stress, as the cat will refuse to eliminate, leading to holding it in, building up toxins, leading to constipation
  • Which will lead to impaction of GI tract + retention of urine, leading to build up of toxins + ruptured bladder - if continues
30
Q
A