addressed for her to achieve a successful outcome. These complexities include her past trauma
from a home invasion/sexual assault, financial burdens, and inability to successfully complete
ADLs. To increase successful patient outcomes, her care team must uphold patient dignity, work
with community resources, and employ an interdisciplinary team to provide care that addresses
all her needs.
Throughout my interactions with the client, her resilience is notable and shows her ability
to overcome the obstacles she has been put through. Despite the burdens she carries, the client
still maintains community involvement and continues to have a wonderful and pleasant
personality. Reminding the client that she has made tremendous progress can help encourage her
during times that the client is feeling defeated throughout her hospitalization.
It cannot be ignored, however, that the traumas that she has endured have made a lasting
impact on her. Her fear of being alone in her home is a lasting impact stemming from the home
invasion as sexual assault. This adds another layer of complexity to her case as we must be
mindful of her safety if she is deemed safe to be discharged to her home; both physically and
mentally. If her PTSD is not treated throughout her stay, she is at risk of not maintaining self-
care and risks returning to the hospital for another health complication.
To avoid re-traumatization, listening to our client’s wishes is not a recommendation, it is
a must. The APA cites loss of autonomy to be one of the long-term impacts stemming from
sexual trauma (Pappas, 2022). Ensuring that the client’s boundaries and autonomy are upheld
will lead to higher chances of treatment effectiveness and the client regaining trust within her
community. One way the client can regain a sense of autonomy is by being in control of her care
, team. For example, the client may request that she has no male caregivers during care or
procedures that require undress, a common request for survivors whose perpetrator was male,
and that is one way that we can make our client feel safer, heard, and regain a sense of
autonomy. If there is a reason that this accommodation cannot be upheld, it is mandatory that this
is communicated to the client with detailed reasonings, and she is given suggestions on ways that
the care or procedures can be done while upholding her boundaries.
Researching charity services within her community is one way the social and human
services aspect of the client’s care team can work with the client in overcoming one of her
socioeconomic barriers. Our team of human services professionals (HSPs) is knowledgeable on
this topic, therefore utilizing their skills in this department can aid the client and her family in the
financial stressors of her care. Another in-hospital method that we, the client’s care team, must
implement in reducing costs in the client’s care is using care coordination; we must communicate
with all responsible parties to ensure no duplicate, unnecessary procedures or tests are conducted
and charged to the patient. Regarding state resources, assisting the client in applying for state-
funded insurance (Medicaid) is one way her care team can begin to address the client’s financial
burdens. This is another area that our HSPs are well-versed in, therefore making their role in the
client’s care team crucial and must be utilized.
To heighten the client’s outcome, her care team needs to involve many individuals with
their own specialties. Addressing her physical needs, there must be a supervising doctor and
nursing team alongside a physical therapist to address her mobility concerns, an occupational
therapist to assist the patient in relearning how to complete ADLs, a psychologist to help the