Assignment 5.2- Shadow Health- Focused Exam- UTI with Antibiotic Sensitivity and Anti-infective

Assignment 5.2: Shadow Health: Focused Exam: UTI with Antibiotic Sensitivity and Anti-infective Concept Lab Summary of Shadow Health Assignment In this shadow health assignment, I had taken ca re of a 21-years old patient named Makayla Henderson who presented with urinary tract infection symptoms. Makayla Henderson is a senior college student who stated that she is a biracial woman. Ms. Henderson stated her urinary tract symptoms were presented three days ago, complained of cramping in the lower abdominal area with dysuria, and urgency to void. Ms. Henderson stated she avoid drinking water to eliminate her urinary frequency and educated the importance of regular fluid intakes to flush the bacteria out of her body and to hydrate her body. Since the patient is allergic to the sulfa drug, choosing the Nitrofurantoin drug is optimal to eradicate uncomplicated urinary tract symptoms; adding phenazopyridine medication therapy will also help Ms. Henderson with urinary dysuria and urgency. Since Ms. Henderson has low health literacy levels, assessing the symptoms, allergy, medical history, family medical history, and performing patient teaching are important to increase her knowledge and to prevent recurrent urinary tract infections. Patient educations such as wiping from front to back, wear cotton underwear, finishing antibiotic therapy even after she feels better to fully eradicate all the bacteria, and returning to care if symptoms are not improving are performed to improve quality of care. In another showdown health assignment for the anti-infective concept lab, it emphasized about the importance of practitioners to gather patient data, allergy, any pertinent medical history before prescribing therapy to prevent hypersensitivity reactions or adverse outcomes. For the antibiotics concept, it explained that antibiotics work against gram-negative, gram-positive, or both types of bacteria and have bactericidal, bacteriostatic or both effects. It also summarized the importance of observing patients for hypersensitivity reactions, assessing patient for renal impairment since antibiotics are excreted via kidney to prevent nephrotoxicity, taking antibiotics medication disrupts normal flora in our body and may cause diarrhea which can increase the chance of having Clostridium difficile, individuals who have penicillin allergy may also sensitive to another penicillin derivative, and Vancomycin is a strong antibiotic and used as a last resort to defense against resistant bacteria. Antiviral therapy works by stopping the viral replication, the importance of practitioners to assess the kidney functions or hydration level since it can cause nephrotoxicity and educate the patients that they are still contagious until the infections are resolved completely. Antifungal therapy act as fungicidal and fungistatic; with fungal medication therapy, the practitioner has to pay close attention to the patient’s hydration status to prevent nephrotoxicity or liver impairment, and monitor closely for individuals with heart issues or arrhythmias. After performing this week’s shadow health assignments, I learned information related to the pathophysiology of infection, stages of infection, the pathophysiology of bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Learning more about pharmacotherapy of antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals along their mechanisms of actions and effects is important information to know as a future nurse practitioner to improve the patients’ clinical outcomes. Besides, understanding antibiotic therapy hypersensitivity such as Type I for anaphylactic reactions are essential to decrease adverse outcomes and complicated reactions from drug therapy. When researching for the principles of antimicrobial therapy, it was defined as the providers will need to obtain an accurate diagnosis to treat the infection, understand the therapy types that are peculiar to antimicrobial agents, recognize antimicrobial stewardships, choose cost-effective and narrow-spectrum therapy, and consult with infectious disease specialists for further guidance (Leekha, Terrell, & Edson, 2011). After completing the assignment, it grew my knowledge to apply the principles of prescribing antibacterial medications by understanding different types of antibiotics and bacteria types, the action of antibiotics on the specific gram-positive or gram-negative bacteria, assessing whether the patient ultimately needs the antibiotic therapy and choosing the ones that are most effective and cost-effective. Reference: Leekha, S., Terrell, C. L., & Edson, R. S. (2011). General Principles of Antimicrobial Therapy. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 86(2), 156–167. https://doi-