Correlation

Mallory Powers

NUR 324

Correlation Assignment

My patient, Ms. V., was an 85 year old woman who was admitted on March 28 with a broken femur. She broke the top of her femur, near her hip, falling down the stairs outside her home. She was very uncomfortable and any type of movement or touch would cause her very intense pain. My patient was waiting to hear when her surgery would take place to repair her broken femur. Her priority nursing diagnosis was her high level of pain that she was experiencing due to her leg. With any sort of movement she would report a 10/10 pain level. She was also experiencing immobility related to her leg and she was very anxious and scared of the upcoming surgery. My patient was also on fall precautions while in the hospital. Her daughter had been in the hospital with her since she was admitted and was initially making all the decisions for my patient.

The doctors were trying to schedule my patient’s surgery as soon as possible due to the large amount of pain she was experiencing and her immobility level. A total hip replacement was talked about, but it was decided not to go along with that because it was too dangerous. Ms. V. had had a stroke in the past and was taking 5 mg of Warfarin every day prior to her hospitalization. Her stroke did not cause any complications. Warfarin is an anticoagulant that is used to prevent deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolisms. The doctors did not want to do the surgery right away like my patient was hoping, because her INR was 2.5 due to the Warfarin, which is too high; especially when undergoing surgery. Her PT was 27.2 which is also high, and if they did the surgery she could bleed too much and hemorrhage, which is an adverse effect of Warfarin. So the doctors decided to wait until the following day for her surgery. To decrease the INR, the Doctor ordered 5 mg of Vitamin K IV to be given stat to reverse the effects of the Warfarin. Vitamin K is usually given when the INR...