Nursing Implications - Stress at the Cellular Level

NURSING IMPLICATIONS

In the assessment of the person who seeks health care, both ob-jective signs and subjective symptoms are the primary indicators of the physiologic processes that are occurring. The following questions are addressed during the assessment:

·       Are the heart rate, respiratory rate, and temperature normal?

·      What emotional distress may be contributing to the pa-tient’s health problems?

·      Are there other indicators of steady-state deviation?

·       What is the person’s blood pressure, height, and weight?

·       Are there any problems in movement or sensation?

·       Does the person demonstrate any problems with affect, be-havior, speech, cognitive ability, orientation, or memory?

·      Are there obvious impairments, lesions, or deformities?

Further signs of change are indicated in diagnostic studies such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography (PET). Objective evi-dence can also be obtained from laboratory data, including elec-trolytes, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), blood glucose, and urinalysis.

In making a nursing diagnosis, the nurse must relate the symp-toms or complaints expressed by the patient to the physical signs that are present. Management of specific biologic disorders is dis-cussed in subsequent; however, the nurse can assist any patient to respond to stress-inducing biologic or psychological disorders with stress-management interventions.