Patricia Doyle (SLE): Care Plan for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Care Plan for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus 1. Patient status- Patricia Doyle is clinically sick but does not require emergency department management because she does not have severe thrombocytopenia or rapid progress of glomerulonephritis (Yildirim-Toruner & Diamond, 2011). However, she requires prompt treatment to avoid serious complications such as systemic vasculitis, severe neurological impairment, diffuse alveolar hemorrhage, profound thrombocytopenia and a rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (Bartels, 2013). 2. Nursing Interventions The treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus is highly dependent on disease severity and the presenting signs and symptoms (Askanase, Shum, & Mitnick, 2012). Nonetheless, the mainstay drug for managing SLE on a long-term basis is hydroxychloroquine although it gets preserved for severe manifestations of the disease (Ahmadpoor, P.; Dalili, N.; Rostami, 2014). Mild and moderate forms of SLE get managed by the use of low-potency immunosuppression agents, NSAIDs or a short course of corticosteroids. Involvement of the vital organs such as the central nervous system and kidney is considered severe forms of the SLE (Bertsias George et al., 2012). Therefore, Patricia Doyle is suffering from severe SLE due to the presence of proteinuria, pitting edema and hematuria which are signs of renal damage. Lupus nephritis management is by use of immunosuppressive agents and glucocorticoids to prevent its progression to end-stage renal disease. However, patients with Level I and Level II lupus nephritis do not the use of immunosuppressive medications. Besides, those with proteinuria of more than 500mg per day should receive ACE inhibitors or ARBs drugs to reduce protein loss and decrease the progression of the disease (Koutsokeras & Healy, 2014). Patricia . . .Continued