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.

Please provide references"

Functional Patterns in Nursing Assessment:Functional Patterns in Nursing Assessment:

 Functional patterns are useful in nurse assessments because they provide the picture of a patient health status in terms of their ability to perform certain activities in their day to day life. These patterns enable the nurses to have an understanding of the present and the past health status of the patient so as to come up with the right care plans and interventions.

 How Functional Patterns Aid in Understanding Health Status:How Functional Patterns Aid in Understanding Health Status:

 Holistic Assessment:

 The functional patterns are a general way of assessing the patient’s state of health where the various aspects of life are considered including dietary intake, bowel and bladder control, physical mobility, and rest. This approach enables the nurses to notice variations from the normal and the effects of these variations on the general health.

 Identification of Changes Over Time:Identification of Changes Over Time:

 With the help of the functional patterns it is possible to compare the current status with the previous one and determine the changes in the health. This can help the comparison of one picture with another in terms of deterioration or improvement and finding the reasons for these changes.

 Personalized Care Planning:

 Knowledge of functional patterns enable the nurses to design a care plan suitable for the patient’s need. It assist in goal establishment, choosing the most imperative interventions, and overseeing the advancement made.

 Prediction of Future Health Needs:Prediction of Future Health Needs:

 The functional patterns can reveal possible forthcoming health problems. For instance, a gradual shift in the bowel movements’ frequency might be an indication of a new disease that needs to be treated at an early stage.

 Example with Elimination Complexity:

 Condition: Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) means the gradual and General loss of kidney function over time.

 Functional Patterns Assessment:

 Current Elimination Pattern:

 Assessment: The US section of the assessment looks at the patient’s current urinary habits, how often the patents urinates, the amount, and the condition of the urine. The nurse also evaluate’s any signs and symptoms like dysuria, hematuria, or change in the colour of the urine.

 Observation: Some of these may include reduced urine output, presence of proteins in the urine, or dark coloured urine for the patient with CKD.

 Past Elimination Pattern:

 Assessment: The nurse assesses the patient’s history of the patient’s previous bowel movements, if he or she ever faced problems with urination or had low urine output. This can be done through medical records or the interviewing of the patients.

 Observation: The patient might have had normal urinary system and then develop symptoms over time of deteriorating urinary system.

 Implications for Current Health:

 Understanding Changes: Some of the consistent changes in elimination include decreased urine output and increased protein levels which is signs of declining kidney function. This assists the nurse to know the stages of the CKD and the effects it has on the patient.

 Care Planning: From the current and previous elimination patterns, the nurse can establish an effective care plan that includes relief of symptoms, assessment of kidney’s health, and patient counselling on diet and drug compliance.

 References:

 Gordon, M. (2016). Functional Health Patterns: Assessment and Diagnosis In: Nursing Diagnosis: An Introductory Guide for Generalist Practice. Nurses’ Desk Reference: The Guide to Planning Patient Care. 11th ed. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.

 Gonzalo, J. & Tamayo, L (2021). Chronic Kidney Disease: Management of the Disease. Journal of Nephrology, Vol 34, No 6, pp 1145–1156. DOI: 10. 1007/s40620-021-01035-6.

 Roper, N. , Logan, W. W. & Tierney, A. J. (2013). The Roper-Logan-Tierney Model of Nursing: As suggested by the Activities of Living. 5th ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.