Sample Answer for NURS 6521 Assignment: Pharmacotherapy for Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Disorders Included After Question
Gastrointestinal (GI) and hepatobiliary disorders affect the structure and function of the GI tract. Many of these disorders often have similar symptoms, such as abdominal pain, cramping, constipation, nausea, bloating, and fatigue. Since multiple disorders can be tied to the same symptoms, it is important for advanced practice nurses to carefully evaluate patients and prescribe a treatment that targets the cause rather than the symptom.
Once the underlying cause is identified, an appropriate drug therapy plan can be recommended based on medical history and individual patient factors. In this Assignment, you examine a case study of a patient who presents with symptoms of a possible GI/hepatobiliary disorder, and you design an appropriate drug therapy plan.
To Prepare
- Review the case study assigned by your Instructor for this Assignment
- Reflect on the patient’s symptoms, medical history, and drugs currently prescribed.
- Think about a possible diagnosis for the patient. Consider whether the patient has a disorder related to the gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary system or whether the symptoms are the result of a disorder from another system or other factors, such as pregnancy, drugs, or a psychological disorder.
- Consider an appropriate drug therapy plan based on the patient’s history, diagnosis, and drugs currently prescribed.
By Day 7 of Week 4
Write a 1-page paper that addresses the following:
- Explain your diagnosis for the patient, including your rationale for the diagnosis.
- Describe an appropriate drug therapy plan based on the patient’s history, diagnosis, and drugs currently prescribed.
- Justify why you would recommend this drug therapy plan for this patient. Be specific and provide examples.
Reminder: The College of Nursing requires that all papers submitted include a title page, introduction, summary, and references. The Sample Paper provided at the Walden Writing Center offers an example of those required elements (available at http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/57.htm). All papers submitted must use this formatting.
Submission and Grading Information
To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:
- Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK4Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
- Click the Week 4 Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
- Click the Week 4 Assignment link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
- Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK4Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
- If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
- Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.
A Sample Answer For the Assignment: NURS 6521 Assignment: Pharmacotherapy for Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Disorders
Title: NURS 6521 Assignment: Pharmacotherapy for Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Disorders
The scenario depicts patient HL presenting with nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. HL has a history of drug abuse and possible Hepatitis C. The patient is currently on Synthroid 100 mcg, Nifedipine 30 mg, and Prednisone 10 mg. Therefore, this paper seeks to discuss the diagnosis and drug therapy for this patient.
Diagnosis
Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection is a likely diagnosis for this patient. Clinical manifestations include fatigue, fever, night sweats, chills, joint pain, muscle pain, pruritus, lymphadenopathy, and spider nevi (Moosavy et al., 2017). GI symptoms include appetite changes, nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea, jaundice, and indigestion (Moosavy et al., 2017). Pertinent positive findings consistent with HCV infection include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. HCV infection can be attributed to the patient’s history of drug abuse and Hepatitis C (Hojati et al., 2018). However, the symptoms can be associated with the side effects of the medications. Nausea is a side effect of Nifedipine and Prednisone, while diarrhea is a side effect of Synthroid.
Drug Therapy
Drug therapy should eradicate HCV and prevent the progress of HCV infection to cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, or liver failure (Nardelli et al., 2017). The drug therapy for the HCV infection diagnosis is Sofosbuvir/Peginterferon/Ribavirin combination for 12 weeks (Chung et al., 2018). The combination has a high treatment response and is recommended for drug abusers because it decreases the risk of self-injection (Hojati et al., 2018). I would recommend the therapy since it has few side effects, which will promote compliance. In addition, I would reduce the dose of current medications, Nifedipine to 10 mg and Prednisone to 5 mg, to minimize the side effects.
Conclusion
The patient has a likely diagnosis of HCV infection based on symptoms of nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea and a history of drug abuse and Hepatitis C. Sofosbuvir/Peginterferon/Ribavirin combination for 12 weeks would be appropriate since it has a high response for drug abusers and has few side effects.
References
Chung, R. T., Ghany, M. G., Kim, A. Y., Marks, K. M., Naggie, S., Vargas, H. E., Aronsohn, A.I., Bhattacharya, D., Broder, T., Falade-Nwulia, O.O.,& Fontana, R. J. (2018). Hepatitis C guidance 2018 update: AASLD-IDSA recommendations for testing, managing, and treating hepatitis C virus infection. Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Hojati, S. A., Maserat, E., Ghorbani, M., Safarpour, A., & Fattehi, M. R. (2018). Hepatitis C Treatment in Patients with Drug Addiction Is Effective or Not Effective? Medical archives (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina), 72(5), 325–329. doi:10.5455/medarh.2018.72.325-329
Moosavy, S. H., Davoodian, P., Nazarnezhad, M. A., Nejatizaheh, A., Eftekhar, E., & Mahboobi, H. (2017). Epidemiology, transmission, diagnosis, and outcome of Hepatitis C virus infection. Electronic physician, 9(10), 5646–5656. https://doi.org/10.19082/5646
Nardelli, S., Riggio, O., Rosati, D., Gioia, S., Farcomeni, A., &Ridola, L. (2019). Hepatitis C virus eradication with directly acting antivirals improves health-related quality of life and psychological symptoms. World Journal of Gastroenterology, 25(48), 6928.
A Sample Answer 2 For the Assignment: NURS 6521 Assignment: Pharmacotherapy for Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Disorders
Title: NURS 6521 Assignment: Pharmacotherapy for Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Disorders
Hepatitis C is one of the main sources of cirrhosis and builds the danger of wellbeing difficulties, particularly when there is liver irritation. Before interceding, there is a need to comprehend the patient’s clinical history since it may impact measures to improve the patient’s prosperity (Rosenthal & Burchum, 2020). For example, prednisone smothers the immune system, and there is a need to comprehend why the patient is utilizing the intercession. The clinical history likewise extends to the period when the side effects have happened and Hepatitis.
Primary Diagnosis
Although a comprehensive history and physical assessment, a diagnostic workup is expected to concoct a primary diagnostic; in light of the introducing symptoms, I will give a primary finding of intense gastroenteritis (Chalasani, Younossi, & Lavine, 2018). The cause is that the stomach and intestinal system are frequently triggered by the virus and bacterial disturbances/aggravation of foods sullied with viruses and parasites. Squeezing, nausea, groaning, or running can have symptoms. Most of the disease efficiently spread from contact with a weakened person or consumes, and drinks of sullied food or foods often spread the disease (Arcangel & Peterson, 2017). The signs typically occur one to three days after pollution. Because the patient is sick, loose, and thick bowels and does not have a fever, I would end up with severe bacterial gastroenteritis. NURS 6521 Assignment: Pharmacotherapy for Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Disorders
Differential Diagnosis
In the context of the history of the patient’s drug abuse, I will be speaking of a specific assessment of hepatitis C severity in the use of IV medicines and of adding indications. Hepatitis C is a serious hepatitis disease caused by hepatitis C infection. It usually results from harming blood or bodily fluid, sex, or needle exchange, which may be severe unclear stomach torment, and often diarrhea, individually or separately. It may be caused by the use of illicit drugs or drugs (Rosenthal & Burchum, 2020). Intense hepatitis C causes diarrhea. Though this underlying infection is most unlikely to cause signs, about 21-30 % of people show indicators approximately 1 to 3 months after the infection has occurred.
Drug Therapy and Treatment Plan
The primary goal of treatment is lessening the indications and the avoidance of complications. Because the patient is vomiting, dehydration and diarrhea, either 0.8 percent of intravenous liquid hydration will lead to the depletion of fluid from and runs and will avoid further dehydration (Chalasani, Younossi, & Lavine, 2018). I advise the patient to drink clear beverages and stock to support the lack of supplants and electrolytes as nausea subsides. On the other hand, if it is bacterial contamination, I will proceed with IV liquid and an anti-infection like an expansive range anti-toxin like Ciprofloxacin.
References
Arcangel, V. P., & Peterson, A. M. (2017). Pharmacotherapeutics for Advanced Practice: A Practical Approach. Wolters Kluwer.
Chalasani, N., Younossi, Z., & Lavine, J. E. (2018). The Diagnosis and Management of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Practice Guidance From the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. Hepatology, 328-357.
Rosenthal, L., & Burchum, J. (2020). Lehne’s Pharmacotherapeutics for Advanced Practice Nurses and Physician Assistants. Elsevier – Health Sciences Division.