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Plan of Care Final

Tatim L. Kane

Delaware Technical Community College

NUR320-201 Health Assessment

Kate Lind

April 21, 2024

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Mr. S is a healthy and young 25-year-old Caucasian male. He has recently been

experiencing allergic reaction with an anaphylactic response to an unknown allergen. His only

prior medical history includes asthma that he has not required respiratory treatments for since

childhood. Family history includes breast cancer, lung disease, and hypertension. A very

important aspect of his plan of care is identifying and preventing further anaphylactic reactions.

Other identifiable risk factors and needs are prevention and early identification education of

testicular cancer related to his age and ethnicity, as well as gun safety because he is an avid

hunter.

The top priority for Mr. S is preventing further anaphylactic reactions and identifying the

allergen triggering his reactions. When these reactions occur, he becomes short of breath, has

difficulty speaking, and breaks out in hives on his chest, back, neck, and face. For ineffective

airway clearance, his goals are to be able to speak clearly without signs of difficulty and

demonstrating clear breath sounds upon auscultation. He has not had to self-administer IM

epinephrine since the last attack but has a prescription for early treatment should it occur again.

He has been educated on how to use it and has practiced with the placebo pen provided by the

pharmacy. Early identification and treatment of his symptoms before his airway becomes

involved is a major learning curve for him. Intramuscular epinephrine is crucial in pre-hospital

treatment involving anaphylactic reactions as it often reduces reaction symptoms and prevention

of airway involvement (Ring et al., 2018). The second important intervention for most allergic

reactions is typically to remove the allergen or trigger that caused it (Salvador & Wagner, 2024).

For Mr. S, the allergen is unknown, and it is vital for him to see a specialist to be able to identify

the causative agent. During these attacks, unlabored breathing, clear breath sounds upon

auscultation, and having a strong effective cough represent that his interventions were successful.
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There is an allergy and asthma specialist very close in proximity to him that would be able to

assist him in allergen testing as well as following up on the state of his asthma.

A possible health risk that is very common in young men is testicular cancer. Early signs

and symptoms of testicular cancer often go unnoticed or ignored as most think that it only affects

older men. The median age group and most affected ethnicity are white males ages 25 to 35

(Yazici et al., 2023). Mr. S falls into both categories, making preventative health education

another important part of his plan of care. To help identify testicular cancer early it is important

to teach the signs and symptoms including a lump or swelling in either testicle, scrotal heaviness,

a dull ache in the lower abdomen or groin, and lower back pain. To identify a lump or difference

in the testes, a self-examination must be performed. A testicular exam includes standing in front

of a mirror and checking for swelling of the scrotum, then placing the index and middle fingers

under the testicle with thumbs placed on top and rolling it between the thumbs and fingers (Self

Screening, 2024). Being able to teach back the signs and symptoms of testicular cancer as well as

demonstrate a self-exam successfully are important in evaluating his understanding of the

education. Mr. S has been given the contact information for a male family medicine physician

who he can follow with for further preventative care.

The final identified need for Mr. S is that of gun safety. Mr. S is an avid hunter of deer,

turkey, and waterfowl. This means he is around, and handling guns a reasonable amount of his

free time. To prevent serious injury or death while using a gun, it is important to stay educated

on up-to-date gun safety regulations and tips. Some of the basic gun safety to be understood is

treating every gun as if it is loaded, keeping your trigger finger outside of the trigger guard until

he intends to shoot, the importance of safe gun storage in a vehicle and at home, being sure you

are on your target and there is no one behind it (Kreitzer, 2023). Another form of staying in the
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know is taking gun safety courses at a local range. Most gun ranges offer a variety of courses on

safety and firing of different weapons. Goals for Mr. S are to understand these ideals, take a

safety class, and be able to provide proof of safe storage of his weapons in his home as well as

when transporting them. Mr. S has been given the contact information for a gun safety course at

a range near him.

Ultimately, Mr. S is a very healthy young man whose care plan mainly focuses on health

promotion and prevention. The biggest goal for him to achieve is meeting with an allergist to

identify the allergen that is triggering his anaphylactic reactions as this can be life threatening.

He has also been given the outline of needed education for testicular cancer identification and

prevention as he falls into a semi high risk category considering he falls into the most common

age group and ethnicity affected. Mr. S was given education on gun safety basics and encouraged

to take a course on safety. I have learned a lot through this care plan as I can say I don’t use guns

regularly and did not know how to teach a male self-exam. I also learned of the vast amount of

resources there are in Delaware for men, allergies, asthma, and gun safety. If I were to do this

course/project again, I would make sure to ask more questions about what his goals are for his

care as well as be more focused on the problem he has been having.

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Resources

Kreitzer, T. (2023, December 12). The importance of firearm safety when hunting // GOHUNT.

The Hunting Company. GOHUNT // The Hunting Company.

https://www.gohunt.com/browse/tips-and-tricks/the-importance-of-firearm-safety-when-

hunting

Ring, J., Klimek, L., & Worm, M. (2018, August 6). Adrenaline in the acute treatment of

anaphylaxis. Deutsches Arzteblatt international.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6131363/#:~:text=Adrenaline

%2Fepinephrine%20administration%20often%20eliminates,treat%20reactions%20of

%20intermediate%20severity.

Salvador, K., & Wagner, M. (2024, February 12). Anaphylaxis: Nursing diagnoses & care plans.

NurseTogether. https://www.nursetogether.com/anaphylaxis-nursing-diagnosis-care-plan/

Self screening. Illinois Department of Public Health. (n.d.-a). https://dph.illinois.gov/topics-

services/life-stages-populations/mens-health/self-screening.html

Yazici, S., Del Biondo, D., Napodano, G., Grillo, M., Calace, F. P., Prezioso, D., Crocetto, F., &

Barone, B. (2023, April 7). Risk factors for testicular cancer: Environment, genes and

infections-is it all?. Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10145700/#:~:text=The%20exact

%20causes%20of%20testicular,weakened%20immune%20system%20%5B6%5D.
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