Reference no: EM133297138

Case: Katie Smith, a 27-year old female, enters the emergency room after experiencing an episode of extreme chest pain, difficulty breathing, and numbness in her arms. She states the following to the admitting physician:

"I was walking my dog earlier when I started sweating. Since it isn't hot outside, I couldn't quite understand why...then I started having trouble breathing and really got scared. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might explode out of my chest. My knees felt weak - it seemed like my whole body was shaking, then my arms went numb. Apparently the whole thing only lasted a few minutes, but it felt like each second was an hour. Did I have a heart attack? Am I going crazy? I felt like I was going to die."

Katie is given an EKG, but the test comes back in normal range, indicating that she did not have a heart attack. Her physician believes she may have had a panic attack and refers her to a clinical psychologist.

Four weeks later, Katie sees the psychologist and reports that she has experienced over two-dozen panic attacks with similar symptoms since her time in the emergency room. At this point, her day-to-day functioning is significantly impaired; she avoids work, time with family and friends, and walking her dog because she thinks it might trigger another attack. There is no concrete source of anxiety or fear in Katie's life other than fear of the attacks themselves. Her psychologist diagnoses her with panic disorder and uses a variety of different exercises to improve her functioning. Katie is admitted into the Adult Psychiatric Mental Health Unit and she is your patient for today.

Discuss the following:

1. The physiological and psychological symptoms the patient is experiencing.
2. Discuss and provide rationale for the appropriate nursing diagnosis.
3. Explain 2 nursing diagnosis you would incorporate into the patient's plan of care.
4. Discuss 2 nursing interventions with rationale.
5. Analyze the types of medication the patient may be prescribed, the side effects, and examples of patient teaching that will completed by the nurse.