Nursing Case Study Ruby

Introduction

As a nurse there is a responsibility to make sure the client has the information necessary to make decisions regarding their health and the health of their family. The primary goal of maternity nursing is to optimize the health and well-being of the mother and the baby. This will be an individualized teaching plan for the prenatal client. The stage of growth and development are described with support from literature. An assessment of the client’s learning need and readiness to learn will be done. Two educational needs will be appropriately identified, as well as learning objectives. Educational content that applies to the educational needs will be developed and an explanation of how that content is delivered will be given. In this

An unexpected pregnancy at this age can cause Ruby to feel overwhelmed by the changes she has to make, such as habits and job demands in order to welcome to child. She is a high school teacher, which indicate she must have some university schooling. “The older multiparous woman may believe that pregnancy separates her from her peer group and that her age is a hindrance to close associations with young mothers.” (Perry et al, 2013, p.238) One barrier to Ruby’s learning would be the age at which she is having this child. Things have changed drastically since she had her two other children, she might be reluctant to learn the new

The cognitive health need is to learn about the nutritional requirements for herself and the baby. According to Health Canada (2009) the mean rate of weight gain, assuming Ruby is in the normal range for the BMI, would be 1.0lbs a week (as cited in Perry et al, 2013, p.255). She is 16 weeks pregnant and has only gained 5lbs in the past three months which is not sufficient. Adequate nutrition during pregnancy is beneficial to both the mother and baby. Women in their 40’s generally drink little milk and consume foods that may be low in calcium. It would be very important to give Ruby information about prenatal vitamins to meet the nutritional requirements as well to look at her diet and increase her daily intake. During the second trimester the recommended daily amount is 340 kcal greater than before pregnancy (Perry et al, 2013, p.251). Other aspects of our discussion would be to include foods high in iron in her diet as well as limit caffeine intake (Perry et al,