Women are bearers of life. Nurturing human inside the womb for nine months is no small feat, that is why when a woman and her significant others learns about her pregnancy, they always go the extra mile just to make sure that the health and the safety of both the mother and the baby are intact. We, as nurses, also have this primary responsibility to be
informed about the dangers to a pregnant woman so we could educate them and protect them too. As part of our holistic care, let us take a peek on how abortion or miscarriage affects a pregnant woman and what we can do to reduce these cases. Definition
Pathophysiology
Risk FactorsThere are always precipitating factors for every condition. Here are the risk factors that concerns abortion:
TypesSeveral types of abortion are used to classify every case for a pregnant woman. Once a thorough assessment is done, that would be the time that the type of abortion that occurred could be established.
Signs and SymptomsAs nurses, we are tasked with assessing our patient to provide baseline and accurate information to other caregivers. The signs and symptoms of abortion must be identified first before ruling out any other relative causes.
Diagnostic Tests
Medical ManagementMedical interventions should also be incorporated in the patient’s care plan to reinforce his treatment. These are physician’s orders wherein nurses and other caregivers would assist or take into action, thus ensuring the recovery of the patient.
Our role as nurses in these medical interventions would be to assist in every aspect possible, and ensure the wellbeing of both the mother and the fetus. Through our nursing interventions, we could initiate care without needing to run after the physicians and ask for their orders. We should be able to function independently as caregivers and promote their wellness in our own way as nurses. The most vital pieces of information are always handed to us first, so it would be up to us to initiate the first intervention to make or break the condition of the client before a doctor arrives. Nurses are the first line of defense of every hospital, and we should live up to that expectation. Surgical ManagementAside from the medical interventions ordered by physician, incidences might occur which would lead to a surgical operation.
Nursing ManagementNurses must also have their own independent functions to ensure the safety and well-being of the patient. The following are measures that would allow the nurse to act independently. Nursing Assessment
Nursing Diagnosis
Nursing Interventions
Evaluation
Marianne is a staff nurse during the day and a Nurseslabs writer at night. She is a registered nurse since 2015 and is currently working in a regional tertiary hospital and is finishing her Master's in Nursing this June. As an outpatient department nurse, she is a seasoned nurse in providing health teachings to her patients making her also an excellent study guide writer for student nurses. Marianne is also a mom of a toddler going through the terrible twos and her free time is spent on reading books! What is the management of incomplete abortion?Treatment / Management
Incomplete abortions are most commonly treated expectantly with frequent obstetrics follow-up and serial quantitative beta-hCG levels. Most of these women will expel the fragments of conception on their own without the need for further medical or surgical treatment.
What is the nursing management of abortion?Nursing Interventions
If bleeding is profuse, place the woman flat in bed on her side and monitor uterine contractions and fetal heart rate through an external monitor. Also measure intake and output to establish renal function and assess the woman's vital signs to establish maternal response to blood loss.
What are the care to be taken after abortion?Rest and Recovery
Despite how well you may feel, do not exercise strenuously for the first week. Increased activity (such as returning to work) may cause more cramping and bleeding. Breast tenderness and swelling may last up to 2 weeks. Avoid stimulation of the nipples to reduce breast discharge.
What nursing intervention should be included when caring for a client with placenta previa?Planning. |