Introduction
Risk Factor
- Lack of attention paid to lifestyle
- Unhealthy habits, including smoking
- Reduced consumption of saturated fats
- Constantly overeating after work
- Increased consumption of carbohydrates and sugar
Flank and urination pain prove that the patient is likely to suffer from one of kidney and urinary tract disorders. Her condition can be affected by poor habits, such as smoking and unhealthy dieting (Tamadon, Nassaji, & Ghorbani, 2013). Fortunately, she has reduced the consumption of saturated fats recently. However, this change is not enough.
Disease and Population
- Nephrolithiasis – kidney and urinary tract disorder
- Stones of calcium and oxalate or phosphate
- Pain that waves and pain on urination
- Frequent consumption of unhealthy food, overeating
- Risk factors: genetics, medication, diet, and smoking
The patient is likely to suffer from nephrolithiasis. Her symptoms include pain and fever. They are associated with this disorder. Improper nutrition, smoking, genetics, and medication increase the risks of suffering (Mobley & Baum, 2015).
Short-Term Goals
- Successful medical and surgical intervention
- Avoid overeating after work
- Reduce consumption of carbohydrates and sugar
- Start quitting smoking under supervision
- Develop guidelines for the desired transformation
In order to improve a patient’s condition, medical staff should initiate changes for the treatment of nephrolithiasis. First of all, she should get rid of those lifestyle habits that increase the risk of complications. Still, it is better to quit smoking step by step. In this way, she will face a less stressful situation.
Long-Term Goals
- Permanent lifestyle changes aligned with her condition
- Total recovery after the intervention
- Prevention of kidney stones reoccurrence
- Overall improvement of patient’s well-being
- Regular testing
To forget about nephrolithiasis and its painful symptoms, the patient is expected to implement permanent lifestyle changes. They are to avoid those behaviors that increase the risk for this disease. Actions to minimalize other health issues should be added. Regular visits to the physician can enhance outcomes.
Intervention
Details of Intervention
- Stop smoking, reducing the number of cigarettes
- Identify a normal meal – avoid overeating
- Reduce consumption of carbohydrates and sugar
- Reduce consumption of saturated fats
- Visit physician regularly
In order to assist the patient and improve her condition, it is vital to reduce the influence of health risks. She must stop smoking and improve her eating habits. Tobacco use can even lead to kidney or ureter cancer if no changes are observed (Healthy People 2020, 2017). Proper nutrition is an effective treatment option for kidney stones (Han, Segal, Seifter, & Dwyer, 2015).
Rationale
- The risk of recurrence is about 40% (5 years)
- Dietary causes generate increased risks of stones
- Dietary sodium restriction
- More than 26% of patients smoke
- No important changes in the number of cigarettes
Even if medical and surgical treatment can help the patient to get rid of stones, nephrolithiasis may reoccur. Thus, sufficient lifestyle changes are required. Improvement in the diet prevents the creation of stones (Han et al., 2015). Recent research proved that people who smoke suffer from nephrolithiasis more often than others (Healthy People 2020, 2017).
Additional Resources
- Handouts with self-treatment peculiarities
- Personally developed guidelines
- Evidence from scholarly articles that discuss nephrolithiasis
- Brief description of additional complications
- Brief description of positive changes
The patient will get to know how to improve her condition without healthcare professionals’ assistance. She should be aware of the outcomes of her poor habits. Information from scholarly sources will be summarized. A self-treatment plan will be provided. Expected positive changes will be outlined.
Evaluation
Main Evaluation Method
- Metabolic evaluation that reveals abnormalities
- Self-report, testing, healthcare reports
- Presence of stones, their constituents
- Risk factors, reoccurrence, critical occupations
- Other critical diseases that affect the patient (Ranabir, Baruah, & Devi, 2012)
Metabolic evaluation can be used to evaluate the intervention. Its results reveal its success and drawbacks. A new assessment of the patient’s condition is needed. Mainly, the presence of stones and risk factors should be considered.
Additional Evaluation Method
- Lab tests can be enough for evaluation
- Focus on the results of ultrasound investigation
- Add the description of blood test results
- Avoid bias of self-report
- Streamline assessment
Expected improvement can be evaluated with the help of lab tests only. They prevent patients from deceiving some important information. Assessment is conducted by other representatives of the medical staff. Thus, the physician saves time.
Desired Outcomes
- Absence of kidney stones
- Absence of urination and flank pain
- Normalization of body temperature
- Prevention of nephrolithiasis reoccurrence
- Overall improvement of the patient’s condition
It is expected that the patient will not suffer from kidney stones anymore. As a result, she will not need to endure pain. Her body temperature will normalize. No reoccurrence of this issue is expected.
Additional Steps
- Cooperation with family and social workers.
- Additional consultation (other doctors).
- Discussion of the worst possible outcomes.
- Assistance in approaching community resources.
- Repeated treatment.
If the discussed intervention fails, the patient’s family should be involved in treatment. Her attitude should be changed. Other doctors may repeat the same information and make her implement changes. Repeated treatment will be needed to get rid of stones.
Summary
- Nephrolithiasis associates with smoking and poor dieting.
- Medication or surgical treatment, lifestyle changes.
- Education of the patient.
- Evaluation of the intervention.
- Final recommendations.
References
Han, H., Segal, A., Seifter, J., & Dwyer, J. (2015). Nutritional management of kidney stones (nephrolithiasis). Clinical Nutrition Research, 4(3), 137-152.
Healthy People 2020. (2017). Tobacco use. Web.
Mobley, D., & Baum, N. (2015). Smoking: Its impact on urologic health. Reviews in Urology, 17(4), 220-225.
Ranabir, S., Baruah, M., & Devi, K. (2012). Nephrolithiasis: Endocrine evaluation. Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism, 16(2), 228-235.
Tamadon, M., Nassaji, M., & Ghorbani, R. (2013). Cigarette smoking and nephrolithiasis in adult individuals. Neuphro-Urology Monthly, 5(1), 702-705.