Question

You are caring for ER, a 28 year old female. She and her husband were having breakfast when she suddenly stopped responding to him. Her husband states, "She just stared into space and kept saying, ‘It’s like this, it’s like this, it’s like this.’" When her husband put his hand on her arm, she hit him. He called 911 and they are now in the emergency department and she is being evaluated for seizure disorder.
Required:
a. What kind of seizure might ER have had? Explain your answer.
b. What assessments and diagnostics will be used to rule seizure disorder in or out?
c. ER’s husband says, "It can’t be seizures. She didn’t fall on the ground and bite her tongue." How will you explain seizure disorder to ER and her husband?
d. If ER is diagnosed with seizures, what will you teach ER and her husband about managing her seizure disorder?

Answer 1

Explanation:

1. what ER is experiencing can be regarded as simple partial seizure. This is why, in this type of seizure she still maintained awareness. This kind of seizure can cause someone to act the way she did by staring into space and continuously repeating the same thing.

2. The assessments and diagnostics are:

• neurological assessment

• EEG test to see if there are changes in her brain activity, this test helps to diagnose brain conditions especially in people that suffer from seizures.
• other assessments and diagnostics are CT scan and MRI scan.

3. Her husband clearly thinks that all kinds o seizures are the same. because she did not fall fall or bite her tongue he doesn't think she had a seizure. He has to be educated to know that seizures are of different types and each of these types have different symptoms. He should know that people can lose consciousness in one type and not lose consciousness in  the other, they may even be able to talk, and remember things during the attack.

4. If she is diagnosed to have seizures, I am going to teach her  and her husband to manage the condition by;

• encouraging her on how necessary it is for her to always take her medications as the doctor prescribed.
• i would tell her to make sure that she avoids whatever can trigger stress, anxiety and emotional disorder.
• They should do away with sharp objects in  the house during such episodes.
• Whenever symptoms present themselves, they should report immediately.