Constipation Care Plan

Constipation is difficulty and decrease in stool passage. Caregivers should also look out for constipation if their client is passing very hard and dry stool with difficulty as it usually precedes the complete absence of bowel movement. Other indicators of constipation are a frequent headache, general weakness, and darker color of feces, pain when passing stool and mass on the abdomen. Members of the nursing and health may need constipation care plan writing help to come up with a clear and quality care plan to guide in diagnosis and assessment or treatment perfomed on a constipating patient with an altered bowel habit.

Constipation Care Plan Diagnosis

Constipation Care Plan Goals and Outcomes

A care plan for constipation should enable the nurse to achieve goals that enable the patient to gain these outcomes.

Constipation Care Plan Assessment

Frequency of bowel movement

When a client passes stool less than three times a day and complaints of difficulties in passing stool, feeling as if it is impossible to empty rectum entirely or as if there is a lump in bowel it is time for the caregiver to determine ways of relieving constipation. It begins by assessing the bowel movement patterns and compares it with the previous alongside any history of the condition. The family can help to keep a record of the frequency.

Current medications

If a client is on medication, a caregiver should recommend a review if they are likely to be a cause of constipation. Some medications affect the normal bowel functions. Some of them are:

If a patient is taking some of the medicine and experiencing constipation, it is essential to consult the prescribing physician and ask for a change of medication.

Constipation Care Plan Interventions and Rationales

When the compilation has been in place for days, it is essential first to help the patient to pass stool and relive the stomach of the effects.

Recommend laxatives

You can recommend the use laxatives and enemas but only when there is no other solution. If you opt for enemas, avoid soapsuds enema due to a tendency of damaging colonic mucosa. Instead, use enemas with low concentrations of castile soap. For the stable neurological client, you can consider creating bowel routine using suppositories or Therevac enema every day for some time to reduce the time required for bowel care. You can also perform digital stimulation but after seeking directions from physicians. Physician evaluation is also essential for cases of persistent constipation.

Make dietary changes

Encouraging a patient to increase fiber intake by up to 25 grams a day is a natural way of clearing constipation. Emphasize o high fiber foodstuffs such as vegetables, bran cereals, and fresh fruits. Increasing fiber in the diet should be gradual. The sudden increase may cause bloating, diarrhoea and gas in the stomach. Fiber gives stool bulk thus helping to relieve and prevent constipation. Bran and wheat fiber are good dietary supplements of fiber. They are especially helpful for women who experience constipation during pregnancy.

Caregivers should complement fiber intake by encouraging their clients to take 1.5-2 liters of water a day (that is 6-8 glasses). Fluid intake should be within the renal and cardiac reserve. Taking this amount of water helps to soften stool and prevent drying after that. Increasing water intake along with fiber significantly increases the frequency of bowel movement s for a client with constipation. You can sprinkle bran over a client food to further increase the frequency of stool.

Encourage physical activities

Encourage the client to be active and perform the daily activities that he or she can perform as it helps to increase peristalsis, muscle contractions that move food to various processing stations in a digestive tract to assist in improving digestion and prevent constipation. Encourage the patient to engage in exercises such as stretches of lambs, motion exercises or simple lifts from the bed or wheelchair for those with restricted movement.

Taking hot drink such as hot lemon water or coffee before taking solid breakfast helps to hasten the process of bowel movement. It is also essential to ensure that patient goes to the toilet in privacy as it is easier to pass stool when relaxed. Caregivers should advise their clients always to attend to call of nature without postponing as it may be challenging to get bowel movement after that.

Constipation Care Plan Writing Help

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