Discussion 5

Sharon Gibson is a nursing student who is having a clinical rotation on the medical-surgical unit. She has two patients assigned to her. Mr. Duncan is 80 years old and was admitted last night with sepsis. He is confused and has no family or friends with him. The nursing assistant has taken his vital signs and tells Sharon that his blood pressure is 90/50 mm Hg, temperature is 102°F, pulse is 50 beats/min, and respirations are 28 breaths/min. The second patient, Mrs. Thomas, is 60 years old and is to be discharged today. She was admitted 4 days ago with pneumonia. She has diabetes and is not compliant with her diet. She is to have a chest x-ray examination done before discharge. Her son, who is in her room, has taken off work for the morning so he can take her home.

1. Which patient should Sharon determine as the priority and go to first? Why?

2. One of the goals of Sharon’s assignment is delegating to others on the nursing team. Which tasks are appropriate for Sharon to ask the nursing tech to do?

3. Sharon is concerned that she will not have enough time to complete her clinical assignment. What actions indicate that Sharon is using time management skills to complete her assignment?

Submission Instructions:

• Your initial post should be at least 500 words, formatted and cited in current APA style with support from at least 2 academic sources. Your initial post is worth 8 points.
• You should respond to at least two of your peers by extending, refuting/correcting, or adding additional nuance to their posts. Your reply posts are worth 2 points (1 point per response.) 
• All replies must be constructive and use literature where possible.
• Please post your initial response by 11:59 PM ET Thursday, and comment on the posts of two classmates by 11:59 PM ET Sunday.
• You can expect feedback from the instructor within 48 to 72 hours from the Sunday due date.