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Difference Between DNP and PhD in Nursing: Essentials Explained
After graduation, nursing students who gained their master’s degree should decide what direction to move in their...
March 19, 2025
Table of contents
- Nursing Diagnosis for Anemia: Key Symptoms
- How to Arrive at a Nursing Diagnosis for Sickle Cell Anemia?
- How to Develop an Effective Anemia Nursing Care Plan?
- Guide to Choosing Nursing Interventions for Anemia
- Nursing Interventions for Sickle Cell Anemia in Severe Cases
- Are You Stuck with an SCA Essay?
- FAQ
Anemia is a disorder that occurs when your body lacks sufficient healthy red blood cells. The disorder develops when your body can’t produce sufficient red cells or when these cells are destroyed too quickly. Its causes range from poor nutrition to certain infections, chronic ailments like cancer, excess menstruation, pregnancy complications, heavy bleeding, and taking drugs that inflame the stomach lining. The problem may be related to chronic iron deficiency in the blood or be caused by sickle cell disease (SCD) (referred to as sickle cell anemia, or SCA).
If not treated correctly or left unaddressed at all, it can cause serious health complications, such as pregnancy complications, heart problems, poor motor development in children, and severe fatigue that impairs one’s ability to carry on with their daily life activities. Fortunately, the disorder can be effectively managed if an affected person takes early precautions. Depending on the cause, a primary care doctor, hematologist, cardiologist, or gastroenterologist can help people overcome the symptoms.
The article sheds light on the nuances of SCA and gives details about its diagnosis, care planning, and prevention.
Nursing Diagnosis for Anemia: Key Symptoms
There are several symptoms that inform the nursing diagnosis anemia. The red flags that a medical professional should be alarmed of include the following:
- Shortness of breath
- Pale skin
- External bleeding
- Hypotension
- Heart racing
- Abnormal complete blood count
- Imbalanced nutrition
The table below shows other typical symptoms to consider.
| Brittle nails and hair loss | Tongue swelling |
| Chest pain or irregular heartbeat | Difficulty concentrating |
| Pica or chewing ice | Restless legs syndrome |
| Headache | Dizziness |
| Poor circulation in hands and feet | Fatigue |
How to Arrive at a Nursing Diagnosis for Sickle Cell Anemia?
SCD is one of the causes of chronic anemia, which should be addressed differently compared to the usual iron deficiency-related conditions. To deal with nursing diagnosis for sickle cell anemia, one needs to know that SCA is caused by a gene defect in the hemoglobin production chain, thus causing chronic problems with iron and blood oxygenation. Unlike the traditional sickle cell disease, SCA produces a less pervasive impact on the patient’s life; it doesn’t cause small capillary obstruction or organ damage. Yet, it should still be managed properly to ensure the person’s adequate quality of life.
So, how can a student or a nursing practitioner arrive at a nursing diagnosis for sickle cell anemia? Here are several factors that may guide the diagnostic process:
- Examine the patient’s family history of SCA or SCD.
- Inquire the patient about persistent pain in their chest or skeleton.
- Check the person in terms of the presence of dactylitis.
- Check the presence of high temperature or pneumonia-like symptoms.
- Perform lab tests (DNA analysis, Hb IEF test, cellulose acetate electrophoresis, and HPLC).
- Consider the need to perform a chest X-ray.
The results of these tests can help a student and medical professional perform a comprehensive assessment of the patient’s condition and determine whether they have SCA.
How to Develop an Effective Anemia Nursing Care Plan?
Effective management also requires an anemia nursing diagnosis care plan. A good nursing care plan for anemia can provide the needed support and alleviate the sick person’s discomfort. The main steps and dimensions of efficient care planning are as follows.
- Prioritizing the aspects of care. The medical professional should consider the patient’s specific conditions and prioritize interventions depending on the problems they are experiencing. These include fatigue and activity tolerance, nutritional issues, blood oxygenation problems, and the selection and administration of relevant medications.
- Physical examination. The medical expert should also undertake the patient’s comprehensive assessment to identify health problems that require immediate and long-term management. These range from a sedentary lifestyle and improper diet to reports of fatigue, discomfort, and dyspnea.
- Evaluation of associated risk factors. The next step in care planning is an evaluation of risk factors, such as specific blood test parameters, availability of healthcare resources, complexity of recommended treatment, and the person’s familiarity with their condition. It is also important to identify the presence of inflammatory response in the patient and evaluate vaso-occlusive factors.
This information, coupled with the complex of nursing goals developed for a specific case, can inform a highly individualized care plan and inform an effective SCA management process.
Guide to Choosing Nursing Interventions for Anemia
Now that the diagnosis is made, it’s time to consider nursing interventions for anemia. There are many options in the global medical practice, ranging from monitoring vital signs to providing education and administering medications. Here are the main types of anemia nursing interventions (and their potential combinations) to alleviate the patient’s condition.
- Managing fluid volume deficiencies. People with SCA are vulnerable to reduced fluid levels in their bodies because of increased water loss arising from fever and reduced fluid consumption because of pain and poor renal function. These dynamics cause dehydration and reduce blood volumes, causing many complications such as organ pain or failure.
- Monitoring lab and diagnostic procedures. Medical professionals also conduct regular tests to assess hemoglobin levels and white blood cell count. Additionally, they monitor X-rays and ultrasound procedures intended to detect complications in a patient.
- Acute pain and discomfort management. Sickle cell patients suffer painful conditions because their red cells block blood vessels, causing inflammation. Acute pain can occur in any part of the body, such as joints, chest, and abdomen. Stress, infections, and dehydration are the leading causes of these pains in a patient.
- Skin integrity maintenance. These patients also suffer from various skin impairments because of reduced blood and oxygen flow to their skin. Reduced flow causes skin breakdown, which can be severe enough to necessitate hospitalization and increased risk of infection. Nurses assist patients by ensuring proper wound management, skincare, and infection prevention.
- Assessing and monitoring for possible complications. Lastly, medical professionals should check for signs of breathing distress or compromised circulation. They also monitor the occurrence of fever, jaundice, swelling, and severe pain. Therefore, they can promptly detect and intervene where complications, such as strokes or organ failure, occur.
- Oxygenation support. The support of adequate oxygenation levels is also a vital nursing intervention for anemia. Nurses should conduct regular oximetry and introduce oxygen therapy in cases of reduced oxygenation parameters.
- Energy management support. Fatigue management and activity intolerance are two persistent priorities in a care plan.
- Iron and nutritional element supplementation. Iron supplements and vitamin B12 supplementation on a regular basis are also vital components of care. Yet, it is important to note that people with SCA shouldn’t overuse iron supplements, as their condition is not related to iron deficits. Inversely, too much iron administration can cause severe organ damage in people with SCA.
- Educational support. Patients with SCA and other types have to introduce various nutritional and lifestyle adjustments to avoid the worsening of their condition. Medical professionals can provide this education to support lifestyle changes and persistent health improvements.
Nursing Interventions for Sickle Cell Anemia in Severe Cases
In situations where the cause of chronic anemia is SCD, medical professionals have to come up with more definitive nursing interventions for sickle cell anemia. These may include:
- Blood transfusion. If the patient reveals signs of severe anemia, they may require the administration of blood product transfusions. Healthy blood is administered intravenously to compensate for the patient’s deficiencies. These measures help increase hemoglobin quickly and address serious symptoms like dyspnea or chest pain.
- Transplantation. In severe cases that are not properly addressed with traditional measures, the doctor may advise a hematopoietic stem cell transplant, which performs the function of faulty cell replacement with healthy cells. This is a highly effective procedure, but it should be performed in a hospital and comes with some potential complications.
- Surgery. If the patient suffers from internal bleeding, they may require surgical interventions to curb the process and avoid acute blood loss.
Are You Stuck with an SCA Essay?
The SCA, as well as iron deficiencies of other etiology, is a common blood disorder that affects millions of patients worldwide and reduces the quality of their lives. Medical professionals are at the forefront of timely and effective SCA diagnosis and the design of competent interventions that may help people with SCA live a normal life. That’s why mastering the diagnostic nuances, symptoms, and interventions for this disorder is so vital for medical and nursing students. Do you have an essay on this topic with which you need help? Don’t shy off. Our team can help you write perfect anemia essays. Talk to us today or fill out an order form.
FAQ
How to cure anemia?
It can be treated through various medical interventions, such as blood transfusion, and lifestyle changes, such as proper nutrition. Nutritional supplementation and educational support are also vital contributors to the patient’s adequate disease management.
What is anemia, what are its symptoms?
In simple words, amenia is a form of chronic iron deficiency in the human blood. Its common symptoms include fatigue, dizziness, headache, difficulty concentrating, shortness of breath, pale skin, external bleeding, and low blood pressure.
What are the known causes of anemia?
Causes include pregnancy complications, poor nutrition, certain infections, chronic ailments such as diabetes, excess menstruation, family history of such disorders, and heavy bleeding.
