Nursing Case Interview Paper

My interviewee is a fifty-three-year-old, white female named Kat Smith. Kat is the mother of two daughters and has been married to her husband for twenty-five years. She is a stay at home mom and lives a comfortable middle class lifestyle. Kat was diagnosed with at age forty-nine with uterine fibroids that resulted in a total hysterectomy. Previously Kat had lived in extreme pain for over fifteen years, she expected that something was wrong, however, the doctors that were treating Kat did not order an ultrasound and attributed her pain to her menstrual cycle. Uterine fibroids (UF), per Martin-Merino, Wallander, Andersson, Soriano-Gabarró and Rodriguez (2016), are the most common non-cancerous tumor found in women. Martin-Merino et. al. (2016)

Albeit, there were times throughout Kat’s illness when she felt even her family thought she was crazy and the pain was in her head. She felt judged because she was not able to do normal things like clean house or go on family outings without doubling over in pain. Kat felt the medical establishment never fully met her needs. The doctors never ordered an ultrasound or an exploratory procedure until her fibroids filled her uterus and her stomach was physically bulging out. During her illness Kat felt inadequate as a mother and a wife because she could not carry out the household and motherly duties that she felt needed to be accomplished, as stated by Lorber and Moore (2002), the social construction of illness is shaped by our cultural and moral values, in many societies women are expected to care for the children and their spouses (pp. 4-5). Not being able to fulfil her expected role while she was in pain, Kat became depressed and felt

Knowing that uterine fibroids are prominent in women, especially pre-menopausal women, yet there has not been any preventive care setup for this issue is very alarming. Using research like study done by Martin-Merino et. al. (2016) preventative care can be established to diagnose uterine fibroids early with the use of an ultrasound and possibly treat the patient, like Kat, with other long-term pharmacological therapy as suggested by Olejeck et. al. (2016). Preventative care needs to be implemented for uterine fibroids, just like routine pap smears and mammograms have helped catch early stages of uterine and breast cancer, early diagnosis can help prevent invasive procedures such as hysterectomies and years of struggling with pain. I have been inspired by this interview and research to get involved concerning women’s health. Knowing that uterine fibroids can be treated and detected early is most likely only one area that the medical industry is lacking in keeping up with proper health care for women. I will start with my own doctors and question their understanding of the differences of women’s needs compared to men. Education and research has a long way to go when it comes to women’s