2008 - Communication Across the Curriculum (CAC)

N u r s i n g
C l i n i c a l A n a l y s i s
RNSG 2362: Clinical Nursing IV. Students in Nursing
IV are expected to turn in a weekly clinical log with
an assessment of their assigned patient, problem/
need identification, nursing diagnosis, prioritization
of problem/need, and the plan of care, including
an evaluation of the care delivered and the patient
outcomes. Claire was afforded the opportunity to
consider the burden placed on patient and family
at discharge and the accountability the nurse has
with regards to this burden. However, the student
must first recognize the burden exists. Claire was
asked to investigate what evidence–based practice
is available in the area of caregiver burden, and how
she might equip herself to recognize and prepare
families at discharge. Claire has done an excellent
job in reviewing caregiver burden, relating the care
she may deliver in terms of the human condition and
equipping herself with the tools needed for assessing
and planning care. When it was all said and done,
her clinical logs were excellent and she needed to
“stretch” in a different direction, one that would allow
her to grow in her role as a nurse.
Carol Girocco
A Heavy Burden
by Claire
Crawford
There is only one thing I dread, not to be worthy of my sufferings.
– Dostoevski (Frankl, 1959)
“Caregiver burden is defined as the effect of stressors on
family members who provide care for a physically or mentally
ill person” (Gordon, 2004). Twenty-five percent of the American
population act as an unpaid caregiver to a chronically ill and
dependant loved one (Hogstel, 2006). This number is rising as
a result of advanced healthcare technology that allows for the
lives of severely ill patients to be prolonged. If the patient does
not have the means to pay for long-term healthcare services
then the sizable task of providing care for the patient falls to
the family. As this number increases a need for adult daycare
centers may be acknowledged and accepted as the caregivers
must work to support their family and the patient. Each patient
and their designated caregiver are of course unique, but there
are some issues associated with the care of a loved one that
are common to most, if not all. If the patient is elderly, the
caregiver is often a child of the patient. This caregiver will likely
have other responsibilities that they must tend to such as work,
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