Nurse Directory

Incubation Stage
The incubation period is the time between entry of infectious agent in the host and the onset of symptoms. During this time, the infectious agent invades the tissue and multiplies to produce an infection. The client is typically infectious to others during the latter part of this stage. For example, the incubation period for varicella (chickenpox) is 2 to 3 weeks. the infected person is contagious from 5 days before any skin eruptions to no more than 6 days after the skin eruptions appear.

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Motor disturbances: Parkinsonian syndrome or paralysis agitans

• Face is expressionless and mask-like
• Constant, uncontrollable, rhythmic tremor or voluntary muscles
• Speech is monotonous and jerky
• Difficulty in initiating, controlling or arresting volutary movements
• Propulsive gait, with forwrd or backward motion increasing almost to run
• “Pill-rolling” tremor of the hands.

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Important Information

• An acute contagious disease
• Essentially a mild childhood disease, the danger actually being congenital defects in the newborn if apregnant woman suffers from it or is exposed to someone with the disease:
  * microcephaly
  * congenital heart defect; cataract; deafness and mutism

AKA: Rubella; 3-day measles

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AKA: “An-an“; athlete’s foot

Causative Agent: Microsporum and Trichophyton (rubrum, mentagrophytes)

Incubation Period: 4-10 days

Period of Commuicability: As long as lesions are present

Mode of Transmission: Direct or indirct contact with skin, contaminated clothing (towels, handkerchief, etc), floors, shower stalls, benches

Signs & Symptoms:

• Flat, spreading, ring-shaped lesions
• Reddish periphery, vesicular or pustular
• Maybe dry and scaly or moist and crusted

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Emergency Care

• First consideration is to ensure a clear airway
• Keep spine straight; patient is carefully turned to a lateral or semiprone position
• Flexion or hypertension should be avoided in case there is a cervical fracture
• Keep patient covered, quiet and undistrubed

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Hypnotherapy is an altered state of consciousness whereby clients are helped to use their own mental associations, memories and life potential to achieve therapeutic goals

It is a technique used in helping clients discover the critical experiences in their past that have been responsible for their present distress

Major Concepts

• The trance state is a naturally occurring phenomenon. It provides an opportunity fo r the therapist and client to make a maximum use of their responses and focus intently on mastering psychological and physical distress.
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Important Information:

• Propagates in hairy regions of the body
• Nits (louse eggs or “lisa”) cling tenaciously to the shaft to the hair
• More commonly a disease of females and of children than adults

AKA: Head Lice
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Aphasia (Dysphasia) is a general term used to describe organic disturbances in language resulting from cortical tissue damage rather than from defective innervation of the muscles used in speech or from mental deficiency.

Nursing Care:
a. Rehabilitation should be done 6 to 12 weeks immediately after a stroke which is the “optimum treatment period, ” but additional improvement can take place for 2 or more years after a stroke

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Bell’s Palsy (facial paralysis) involves the facial nerve (7th cranial nerve) on one side, producing weakness or paralysis of the facial muscle.

Causes: unknown

Sign & Symptoms: feeling of numbness in the face, distortion of face from paralysis of facial muscle; speech difficulties, inability to eat on affected side; pain behind the ear or in the face.

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Radiological Studies

• Roentgenogram (x-ray film) -It is used to determine injury to or tumor of the bones and soft tissues

• Bone Scan – A radionuclide such as 99Tc – disphosphonate is administered IV, and scan is done several hours later. This 99Tc disphosphonate is favored bacause scanning can tabke place within 1 to 3 hours after injection. A client may be given pain medication before scanning to make him or her more comfortable. Immediately before the scan, the client should void to eliminate the radioactive material from the kidney and the bladder.

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