Nursing Care for Encephalitis Singapore

Nursing Care for Encephalitis Singapore

Introduction

Encephalitis is a condition or disease in which the brain becomes swollen or inflamed. The inflammation is due to infections which are viral in nature. Some cases of this condition can become life threatening that is why any signs or symptoms related to it must be reported in the hospital for clinical assessment and proper interventions. Other name for this condition is cerebral encephalitis.

Causes and Symptoms

Until now, there is no known or main cause of encephalitis. Besides being caused by a virus, bacteria can also cause this. Specific viral causes of encephalitis include the rabies virus (which comes from animals such as dogs), measles virus, tick-borne viruses, viruses from mosquitoes via blood, and forms of herpes viruses such as HSV-1 and HSV-2.

Symptoms of encephalitis among patients may include fever (sign of infection), mental headache (due to increased in brain pressure), and body weakness. Moreover, there is usually also loss of consciousness gene tically, seizure, double vision, problems with speaking, ear hearing problem and confusion. For a child, the pediatric clinical symptoms may include vomiting, being irritable, to name a few.

Nursing Care Plan

The nursing staff must coordinate with the health care team to create a health plan for a patient with encephalit is. The nurse must prepare the patient for diagnostic procedures such as brain CT-scan to see if there is swelling, lumbar puncture to extract CSF and have it tested for viral agents and biopsy will also help to search and confirm the diagnosis.

Treatments for encephalitis are usually anti-virals such as acyclovir and foscarnet. These are usually administered through IV which is the fastest way to absorb the medicine. The nurse will also help the patient get enough body rest. With regards to fever and headache, the nurse can administer and use analgesics and antipyretics to relieve those symptoms if ordered by the physician. Steroids may also be used to reduce the occurrence of brain inflammation. Lastly, if there are seizures, source of anti-seizure drugs can be administered per doctor's order.

If there is a proper diagnosis and treatment, then there will be less risk of complication that can occur. Thus there will be faster recovery and the patient can be discharged earlier to their home. Post evaluation is needed to make sure that the patient actually recovered.

Conclusion

Resources for encephalitis can be found online. If there are symptoms of acute headache, fever and weakness, it is advisable to go to the nearest hospital for proper assessment and without skip evaluation.

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