大陸籍象腿症患者之護理經驗

Providing Care to an Elephant Leg Patient: A Nurse’s Experience

本篇為協助一位24歲大陸籍女性因慢性下肢淋巴水腫（俗稱象腿症）接受手術治療的護理經驗，護理期間為2008年6月10日至2008年9月9日，經由直接照護、會談、觀察、收集病史等方式收集資料，本文僅依焦慮及健康尋求行為之護理問題呈現照護經驗。經給予同理心並鼓勵個案表達感受，主動提供疾病相關資訊，減輕緊張與焦慮；教導轉移注意力的方法以減輕疼痛，並教導個案復健運動及使用循環機；透過電子郵件提供居家照護追蹤，確實掌握個案居家復健成效，期望透過此整體之個案護理經驗分享，作為日後照護此類個案之參考。

This article reports on the experience of nurses who provided nursing care to a woman who had recently immigrated to Taiwan from Mainland China. The woman suffered from chronic lymphedema, and had previously received surgical treatment for the condition. The period of nursing care ran from June 10th through September 9th, 2008. Nursing care experience focused on the two care issues of anxiety and health seeking behavior. During the nursing process, we expressed empathy, encouraged the patient to express her feelings, and provided disease-related information. We successfully resolved the patient’s anxiety problem. The patient learned to use distraction to help relieve pain. The patient also participated in a rehabilitation program to improve her blood circulation. We tracked the patient’s rehabilitation progress through e-mail correspondence. We hope that this complete nursing experience can serve as reference in caring for patients facing similar problems in the future.