Discuss how functional patterns help a nurse understand the current and past state of health for a patient

Discuss how functional patterns help a nurse understand the current and past state of health for a patient. Using a condition or disease associated with an elimination complexity, provide an example."

Functional patterns can be described as approaches to the systematic evaluation of one or another aspect of a patient’s life and health and are often grouped by specific functional areas. These patterns enable the nurse to develop an overall systems approach to a patient’s health needs, acute and chronic. That is why, with the help of such patterns, nurses are able to identify shift or trends in the data, notice differences from the norm, and develop the further course of treatment and therapy.

 The Way in Which Functional Patterns Contribute to the Assessment of Health Status

 Holistic Assessment: The functional patterns provide the entire picture of a patient since these loss areas are viewed under categories of physical, psychological and social. This approach assist in defining not only the disease symptoms, but also how the condition interferes with the patient’s life.

 Identifying Trends and Changes: In this way, the functional patterns can be analyzed with the aim to find out the changes over time and, therefore the changes in the patient’s state. This is convenient in tracing the aggressiveness of diseases, as well as in assessing the impact of interventions.

 Comprehensive History: Other form pattern includes elements less significant and more concrete than personal identifies, but still parts of a patient’s record of health, like life style, eating habits, and inheritance. This information is essential in complicating current health with past health especially when practicing in the health sector.

 Tailored Care Planning: Perceiving of functional patterns gives the nurses an opportunity to plan ways on how to off er care to the patients and identifying areas of concern to get overall functional patterns.

 Example: CKD and the measure of JRFS was analyzed to determine their association with the degree of elimination complexity in the human body.

 Condition: Chronic Kidney Disease also called Chronic Renal Disease

 Functional Patterns:

 Elimination Pattern: This pattern evaluates the patient’s urinary usability like the frequency and volume of urination as well as problems with the same. In CKD, this becomes more critical owing to the fact that the renal function to clear wastes and fluids is compromised.

 How Functional Patterns Help:

 Assessing Current Health Status: Evaluation of elimination in a CKD patient entails changes in urine production, occurrence of oedema and features of fluid accumulation. For instance, a decline in the urine production or hematuria, or presence of protein in the urine, may be signs of the deteriorating renal function.

 Understanding Past Health: Evaluating patient’s history regarding the kidney function can be helpful in understanding the development of the CKD. For instance, data on past experiences such as previous UTI episodes or hypertension might assist in the determination of the development and aggressiveness of CKD.

 Identifying Complications: Some of the complications that may arise from CKD and which may be manifested through change in the elimination pattern include; Increased frequency of urination or nocturia.

 Tailoring Interventions: Thus, after the assessment of the elimination pattern it is possible to define some specific measures. For example, the goals might involve regulation of the amount of consumed fluid, regulation of electrolyte levels, or getting in touch with a CKD-specialized nephrologist.

 Example Scenario:

 A patient diagnosed of CKD complains of more frequent formation of urine and passing of urine at night. On evaluating these symptoms, they realize that the patient has had a change in bowl movement and for the past one month the urine output has improved tremendously. The nurse also performs patient head and tail and realizes that the patient has a history of diabetes with poor glycemic control, a known CKD risk factor. The care plan can then be changed so that the nurse will be more vigilant in monitoring the kidney function, the diet taken by the patient and any changes in medication that are required to regulate the fluid balance of the patient.

 Conclusion

 However, functional patterns are important for holistic evaluation of the patient’s condition. Nurses, for example, by focusing on particular patterns such as elimination, can identify the effect of such diseases as CKD, measure changes, and apply suitable interference in patient care practice.