Post Traumatic Stress and the Nursing Diagnosis
Dear HumanDHS Friends!
Comment : Dr. Lynch: From Article:
“However, as well intentioned as it may be, the sudden unveiling of ones body in the presence of several observers causes humiliation and embarrassment, which in turn results in increased stress and retards healing.”
Nursing Expert Witness Issue #4 - Post Traumatic Stress and the Nursing Diagnosis Part 2 The Recovery Phase
July 30th, 2008 ·
http://legalnurseconsultanttom.com/?p=74
Thomas A. Sharon, R.N., M.P.H.
It is important for an attorney to note that the key to determine whether or not a client is malingering to enhance the potential damage award is to review the therapeutic encounters. There must be a paper trail showing the process of diagnosis and attempts to assist the client in making improvements through thought, speech and action. Therefore it is imperative to understand the various conditions that result from a response to trauma and how they are treated.
The Diagnosis and Treatment of the Post Traumatic Stress Responses
As mentioned in the last issue, trauma is a sudden event that alters the course of a person’s life. The change can be temporary or permanent and affects every aspect of being. All goals and expectations developed over a lifetime are instantly stripped away with nothing to look forward to except pain and anguish. If that weren’t enough, the road to recovery is fraught with obstacles, i.e. harmful coping mechanisms and responses such as flash backs, recurrent nightmares, intrusive thoughts, sleep deprivation, chronic pain, alterations in body image, self esteem and social relationships, loss of independence, lower frustration tolerance, irritability, inappropriate startle responses to common sounds and alterations in danger perception. Additionally, as mentioned previously, most of us have experienced a traumatic event at on time or another and all human beings experience various emotional responses. However, given how the legal system has evolved, it is now crucial to be able to distinguish between resolvable responses and responsive pathology. Accordingly, we now turn our attention to understanding the dynamics of how legitimate therapists will identify and resolve those responses, so that the attorney can know when there is legitimate evidence of pathology indicating an extended period of pain and suffering that meets legal threshold requirements.