¶ … Sallie Mae Fisher

Ms. Fisher is an 82-year-old female with a history of chronic congestive heart failure (CHF), atrial fibrillation, and hypertension. With her age, and such an acute medical condition, she may undergo substantial changes in function and living standards.

Ms. Fisher has been hospitalized four times for exacerbation of her CHF in the last 6 months. One of her primary problems is most likely to be decline in function in activities of daily living (ADLs). During Post hospitalization, older patients experience changes in functional status, Mary seems not to recover well after hospitalization revealed by her frequent hospitalizations.

In addition, Ms. Fisher seems to gain weight fast an indication that her body is retaining extra fluid. This is a common complication associated with CHF. It appears that Ms. Fisher is not strict with her diet or in not monitoring her diet well to eliminate salt (De Lorgeril, Salen, & Defaye, 2005). This type of weight gain means that the body is holding onto much salt thereby retaining too much water.

A study conducted by Mahoney, Eisner, Havighurst, Gray, and Palta, (2000) revealed that older adults who lived alone following hospitalization have a reduced recovery rate in function after discharge, this is in comparison with those who lived with others such as family members. Ms. Fisher despite her age lives alone without any family support.

Moreover, she is recently widowed a situation that worsens her condition. She is bereaving the death of her husband alongside dealing with such an acute medical condition. This could explain the reason for her recent high frequent hospitalization.

Ms. Fisher needs home care and support in order to cope with her situation, preferably hospice would carter for her much needed physiological, psychosocial, educational, and spiritual needs.

References

De Lorgeril, M., Salen, P., & Defaye, P. (2005). Importance of nutrition in chronic heart failure patients. European Heart Journal, 2215-2217.

Mahoney, J.E., Eisner, J., Havighurst, T., Gray, S., & Palta, M. (2000). Problems of Older Adults Living Alone After Hospitalization. Journal Gen Intern Med, 611 -- 619.