Jimmy Jansen is a 44-year-old man with type 1 diabetes mellitus. He was recently referred to your home health agency for case management follow-up at home. He is experiencing multiple complications from his diabetes, including the recent onset of blindness and peripheral neuropathy. His left leg was amputated below the knee last year as a result of a gangrenous infection of his foot. He is unable to wear his prosthesis at present because he has a small ulcer at the stump site. His chart states that he has been only “intermittently compliant” with blood glucose testing or insulin administration in the past despite the visit of a community health nurse on a weekly basis over the past year. His renal function has become progressively worse over the past 6 months, and it is anticipated that he will need to begin hemodialysis soon. His social history reveals that he recently separated from his wife and has no contact with an adult son who lives in another state. He has not worked for more than 10 years and has no insurance other than Medicaid. The home he lives in is small, and he says that he has not been able to keep it up with his wife gone. No formal safety assessment of his home has been conducted. He also acknowledges that he is not eating right because he now must do his own cooking. He cannot drive and states, “I don’t know how I’m going to get to the clinic to have my blood cleaned by the kidney machine.” ASSIGNMENT: Mr. Jansen has many problems that would likely benefit from case management intervention. 1. Make a list of five nursing diagnoses for Mr. Jansen that you would use to prioritize your interventions. 2. Then make a list of at least five goals that you would like to accomplish in planning Mr. Jansen’s care. Make sure that these goals reflect realistic patient outcomes. 3. What referrals would you make? What interventions would you implement yourself? Would you involve other disciplines in his plan of care? 4. What is your plan for follow-up and evaluation?

 

You work in an intensive care unit where there is an all-RN staff. The staff work 12-hour shifts, and each nurse is assigned one or two patients, depending on the nursing needs of the patient. The unit has always used total patient care delivery assignments. Recently, your unit manager informed the staff that all patients in the unit would be assigned a case manager in an effort to maximize the use of resources and to reduce LOS in the unit. Many of the unit staff resent the case manager and believe that this has reduced the RN’s autonomy and control of patient care. They are resistant to the need to document variances to the care MAPs and are generally uncooperative but not to the point that they are insubordinate. Although you feel some loss of autonomy, you also think that the case manager has been effective in coordinating care to speed patient discharge. You believe that at present, the atmosphere in the unit is very stressful. The unit manager and case manager have come to you and requested that you assist them in convincing the other staff to go along with this change. ASSIGNMENT: Using your knowledge of planned change and case management, outline a plan for reducing resistance.