HNN217 : Community Nursing Practice - Nursing Assignment

Internal Code : MAS748

Nursing Assignment

Case Study : Anne Giovanni is a 23 year old Italian woman who has lived with her grandmother and her cat on the outskirts of town for the past 10 months. Anne works at the local Catholic primary school as a graduate teacher teaching the prep class. She is grateful that her grandmother has provided free accommodation but is not happy with some of her restrictions. For example her grandmother insists she attend weekly mass with her and insists that she is not allowed to socialize at night without supervision. Anne was recently hospitalised overnight due to an exacerbation of her asthma. Anne feels that she has “managed fine” since she was first diagnosed three years ago, despite several hospital admissions during the year. In a follow up appointment with her General Practitioner Anne demonstrated a lack of understanding of her condition, including her asthma triggers and how to manage exacerbations. As a consequence the GP referred her to you for health education. Your assessment of Anne reveals that Anne is unsure what triggers her asthma but acknowledges it has been worse since moving in with her grandmother. She tells you she now uses her puffer three to four times per day and does not use a spacer as recommended because they are “too big and ugly to carry around” and are “pointless anyway”. Anne has never taken a preventer for her asthma. When her asthma “flares up really bad” she just keeps taking her puffer until she feels better or ends up in hospital. Anne tells you she doesn’t know what exacerbates her asthma, but she has heard that it gets worse with exercise, and avoids it in an effort to prevent attacks. When you ask Anne to demonstrate her puffer technique, you see she is putting the inhaler in her mouth without shaking it before taking a puff. Your inquiries about other aspects of Anne’s health reveal that she has never had a pap smear and does not practice breast awareness. Question : Using Anne Giovanni’s case study, discuss the role of the community health nurse in planning evidence-based health promoting interventions relevant to one knowledge deficit about asthma in an effort to improve her health outcomes.