Preparedness Plan

Preparedness Plan

Develop a safe and cost-effective preparedness plan for head trauma. The plan must specify the roles of all cooperating parties. Be sure to write using APA format. Cite at least two peer-reviewed, reliable sources that you used to develop your plan. Provide both in-text citations and full APA citations of the sources.

Sample Paper

Develop a Safe and Cost-effective Preparedness Plan for Head Trauma

Head traumas are commonly serious and therefore require timely and accurate care management procedures to avoid fatalities or long-lasting damages to the brain, which can significantly impact the quality of life for the patients. Traumatic head injuries are a major cause of death and disabilities worldwide, with an estimated 27 million cases occurring worldwide every year. The management of head trauma, especially severe cases, is a complex process that requires the cooperation of different care providers, including physicians, neurologists, nurses, lab technicians, pharmacists, and therapists such as speech therapists (Lumba-Brown et al., 2018).

The role of the physician includes providing expert care and deciding whether specialized care or surgeries are required. Most patients with severe head trauma injuries often have other body parts affected, and therefore physicians are critical in determining serious medical procedures are required or not. The neurologists will be required where the patient has suffered severe injuries that require expert opinion to manage and treat the patient successfully. Nurses are critical since they are the first contact that patients will meet in healthcare, they provide first aid procedures, perform the patient examination, and implement the interventions to restore the patient health. Lab technicians are responsible for carrying out diagnostic tests such as CT scans and MRIs. Pharmacists are responsible for drug reconciliation to prevent negative drug interactions. Therapists will be responsible for restoring patient functions such as speech if the damage causes any impairments (Spaite et al., 2019).

The preparedness plan aims to provide primary care guidelines to prevent further deterioration of the injury and facilitate appropriate care interventions.

1. The initial step is to assess the extent of trauma to determine whether the patient qualifies for major trauma classification or not. If the trauma is not severe, it can be managed by recommending bed rest and over-the-counter painkillers.
2. If the patient has experienced major head trauma, the initial step would be to identify and stop any bleeding to prevent blood loss. Assess the other vital signs such as breathing and heart rates and implement procedures to stabilize the patient. It is recommended that the patient maintain a systolic blood pressure >110mmHg, which is appropriate for maintaining adequate perfusion in the brain and maintaining an appropriate oxygen level to prevent secondary injuries (Wiles, 2022).

• For the patients taking anticoagulants, reversal agents should be initiated to prevent excessive blood loss; however, the physician should be notified to contact a hematologist.

1. Anticonvulsants should be then administered to protect the patient from seizures, which can lead to secondary injuries.
2. The nurse should then complete a physical exam and Glasgow coma scale to determine the health and mental status of the patient. The findings from the tests should be properly documented and provided to other care team members.
3. Imaging tests should then be conducted to assess for internal damages or bleeding, and the results communicated to the relevant members such as the neurologists and the physicians. Based on the data collected and findings from the imaging procedures, the appropriate care procedures should be initiated to restore the patients to health.

• The care team should then develop the appropriate intervention strategies to assist the patient in recovering.
• The nurses should then implement the care interventions developed by the team, monitor the patient progress, and communicate the development or significant deterioration to the care team members.

1. If the patient’s condition deteriorates, the team should re-evaluate its interventions and develop an appropriate intervention that will support recovery (Wiles, 2022).

References

Lumba-Brown, A., Yeates, K. O., Sarmiento, K., Breiding, M. J., Haegerich, T. M., Gioia, G. A., … & Timmons, S. D. (2018). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guideline on the diagnosis and management of mild traumatic brain injury among children. JAMA pediatrics, 172(11), e182853-e182853. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2698456

Spaite, D. W., Bobrow, B. J., Keim, S. M., Barnhart, B., Chikani, V., Gaither, J. B., … & Hu, C. (2019). Association of statewide implementation of the prehospital traumatic brain injury treatment guidelines with patient survival following traumatic brain injury: the excellence in prehospital injury care (EPIC) study. JAMA surgery, 154(7), e191152-e191152. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/article-abstract/2732443

Wiles, M. D. (2022). Management of traumatic brain injury: a narrative review of current evidence. Anaesthesia, 77, 102-112. https://associationofanaesthetists-publications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/anae.15608