Discussion: Non-critical care settings
Discussion: Non-critical care settings
Most ear, nose, and throat conditions that arise in non-critical care
settings are minor in nature. However, subtle symptoms can
sometimes escalate into life-threatening conditions that require
prompt assessment and treatment.
Nurses conducting assessments of the ears, nose, and throat
must be able to identify the small differences between lifethreatening conditions and benign ones. For instance, if a patient
with a sore throat and a runny nose also has inflamed lymph
nodes, the inflammation is probably due to the pathogen causing
the sore throat rather than a case of throat cancer. With this
knowledge and a sufficient patient health history, a nurse would
not need to escalate the assessment to a biopsy or an MRI of the
lymph nodes but would probably perform a simple strep test.
The Case Study/Scenario:
Jason, a 13-year-old male comes in with Mom complaining of
painful swallowing. Started yesterday as a “really bad sore throat”
made worse with swallowing. He reports feeling very tired. His
Mom gave him over-the-counter Children’s Motrin which made his
fever better but did not help his sore throat. He reports his
symptoms are especially, worse during nighttime. His tonsils are
2+ and erythematous, tonsil stones are present on the right side.
He has white patches on his tongue

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