Case Study: Heart Failure

Case Study: Heart Failure
Author's Name
Institution
Approach to care
Appropriate care for this patient would be multidisciplinary since a patient with congestive heart failure requires frequent review of their medications, monitoring of their symptoms and management of any assistive devices they might have (National Heart Foundation of Australia, 2010).
The provision of nursing care, including propping the patient and supplementing oxygen, would be paramount in ensuring patient comfort. A physician would be consulted to evaluate for the presence of other co-morbid conditions, reevaluate his medication and treatment. Additionally, a pharmacist should be consulted to reduce the medication burden so as to enhance adherence.
Further, counseling by a psychologist would help the patient understand and be better placed to cope with his condition. Social workers would then be involved in aiding the recovery of the patient at home (National Heart Foundation of Australia, 2010). Finally, the hospital administration should also be involved in view of waiving the patient's medical bills whose burden may aggravate his condition.
Treatment plan
The aim of treatment would be to initially stabilize the patient and alleviate his discomfort. The patient should be propped up on a cardiac bed and supplementary oxygen administered to alleviate the breathlessness (Colledge, Walker & Ralston, 2010). Drug treatment will then be instituted with administration of drugs to eliminate the excess body fluid and boost his cardiac function.
The patient would then require regular monitoring of his vital signs, including blood pressure, respiratory rate and temperature. After the patient is stabilized further management would include fluid and salt restriction to limit further fluid retention. Further management would include advice on smoking cessation and moderation of alcohol intake. In addition, promotion of medication adherence, regular exercise as tolerated,...