Question

Cognitive / Functional Ability Learning Assessment

Patient Profile
T.Y. is a 32-year-old male who presented to the emergency department who was found unresponsive and incontinent. He has a history of seizures. Upon questioning, he is lethargic and oriented to name and date only. He states he hasn’t been sleeping well and has been really stressed lately due to cutbacks at his place of employment. He has been seen in the emergency department for viral influenza 13 days ago. At that time, he had a high fever, malaise, vomiting, and generalized body pain. He was given intravenous fluids and sent home with instructions for symptomatic care.

Objective Data

Physical Examination

• Temperature 98.7° F, pulse 80, respirations 18, blood pressure 102/60
• Lethargic and oriented X 2, name and date only, cooperative
• Symmetric muscle weakness involving all four limbs
• No evidence of diplopia or ptosis
• Normal bowel and bladder function
• No dysphagia

Diagnostic Studies

• 12-lead ECG: Sinus rhythm with a rate of 80 beats/minute with occasional PVCs.
• Labs / Tests pending: Complete blood count (CBC), complete metabolic panel, EEG

Case Study Progress
T.Y.’s labs return WNL and his continuous EEG is currently running.

6. What education is important prior to the EEG?
7. If T.Y. has another seizure, what is important for the nurse to observe?

Answer 1

EEG (electroencephalogram) test detects the electrical activity of our brain by representing them in wavy and zig zag lines on the monitor.

The following education is important prior to the EEG test -

• Most of the EEG test is conducted while the patient is sleeping. So the patient should either take less or no sleep the night before examination so that he/she can sleep in the lab while the test is performed on him/her.
• As caffeine is known for stimuly our brain activity, its important for the patient to avoid caffeine atleast 12 hours prior to the test.
• If the patient is on some kind of medication, he must consult this with the doctor to whether he should take the medicine prior to the test or not.
• Since this test is performed on the scalp of the patient, hence the patient should not use any kind of hair product before the test and should wash their head with normal water a night before the test.

If a person has the tendency to have recurrent seizures, there are big chances that he has developed epilepsy which is a dangerous situation that causes abnormal behaviour and even loss of consciousness.

In case of T.Y. the nurse will observe the following things -

• Behavior of the patient before the seizure
• Factors that triggers this condition
• A note of activity that happened during this state
• Body parts involved in the whole condition
• Recovery time and possible factors