Discussion post reply

Learning Goal: I’m working on a health & medical discussion question and need an explanation and answer to help me learn.

BY DAY 6

Respond to at least two of your colleagues’ posts on two different days and provide additional insight to your colleagues related to issues and topics they may want to also consider. Use the Learning Resources and/or the best available evidence from current literature to support your explanation.

The patient is a 24-year-old African American female here for a routine annual pap smear, w/o any Hx of prior abnormal pap smears. LMP on 8/15. The patient denies family Hx of breast, cervical, uterine, or ovarian cancer. The patient lives w/ her boyfriend and 5-year-old son. The patient is a sophomore in college studying Chemistry. The patient denies a current or lifetime history of smoking tobacco, drinking alcohol, or taking illicit drugs. The patient admits to being sexually active with men only and admits to only being intimate with her current partner. The patient’s past gynecological history is G1 P1, with a normal vaginal birth w/o complications.

Communication Techniques I Used with My Patient

According to Toney-Butler and Unison-Pace, (2021), there are multiple strategies that can be used to establish taking a good health history. I used the communication techniques of asking questions that were open-ended, closed-ended, and focused questions. I also used the communication skill of active listening. When trying to get a thorough health history, I feel that it is important to start with broad questions to gain information about the patient’s health which will prompt asking more direct questions. This combination of questioning reveals the areas of concern and needs of the patient that need to be further explored (Weller et al., 2018). Exercising active listening skills allows you to assess the patient’s verbal and non-verbal cues which aid in building your line of questioning as well.

Risk Assessment Instrument I Selected and Why it is Applicable to My Patient.

I selected to use the Women Abuse Screening Tool (WAST) to detect intimate partner violence (IPV) based on my patient exhibiting the risk factors of age and gender who admits to being in a relationship (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021). According to Ogbe et al., (2020), IPV occurs globally in women aged 15 and over. Although IPV affects both men and women, women are most affected by IPV (Ogbe et al., 2020).

Five Targeted Questions I would ask My Patient

1. Do you have a regular menstrual cycle? Are they heavy, painful, etc?
2. Do you use contraception? If not, are you interested in exploring options today?
3. At what age did you start having sex?
4. Are you vaccinated for HPV?
5. Have you ever had an STI?

A resource that is available to my patient to access the knowledge of women’s health issues is sponsored by The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). This online resource can be used to access advice and education on women’s health issues based on a topic or question of concern. It would allow my patient to take a more active role in her care by gaining knowledge of what normal changes are occurring in her body as well as education on disease prevention.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Intimate partner violence: risk and

protective factors for perpetration. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/

intimatepartnerviolence/riskprotectivefactors.html

Ogbe, E., Harman, S., Van den Bergh, R., Degomme, O. (2020). A systematic review of intimate

partner violence interventions focused on improving social support

and/mental health outcomes of survivors. Plos One. https://www.doi.org/10.1371/journal.prone.0235177

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (2022). https://www.acog.org/womens-health

Toney- Butler, T.J., Unison-Pace, W.J. (2021). Nursing Admission Assessment and Examination.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493211.

Weller, S.C., Vickers, B., Bernard, H.R., Blackburn, A.M., Borgatti, S., Gravlee, C.C., Johnson,

J.C. (2018). Open-ended interview questions and saturation. Plos One. 13(6). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.prone.0198606