Practicum About Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)

Practicum
Name
Institution
STIs
Sexually transmitted infections are infections that can be passed from one individual to another through sex, anal sex, oral sex, or skin-skin contact. Some STIs are caused by bacteria while others are caused by viruses. Gonorrhea and syphilis are some of the STIs, which are caused by bacteria while STIs such as herpes and HIV are caused by viruses. Reports indicate that there has been a growing number of individuals diagnosed with STIs particularly the young men and women. The growing number of individuals diagnosed with the infections is an explicit call for better and enhanced diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of the infections. The following will be an exploration of my experience with a patient who had an STI.
In my practicum section, I happened to attend a female patient who complained about an abnormal discharge. She stated that her vaginal discharge was unusually discolored and at the same time it incredibly smelled awful. She also added that for the past two weeks she had been experiencing excruciating pain while urinating and also an elevated urge to urinate. At first, I thought the changes that were occurring in her body were as a result of urinary tract infection as this is an infection that is very common among women. However, further probe into her situation proved that she could be suffering from a serious STI. I realized that apart from the signs she had mentioned she also had serious sores in the mouth and around her genitals and she also had some unusual growths around her genitals. From the disclosed symptoms and signs, a test for syphilis or gonorrhea would be apt. A gonorrhea test ...