Nova Southeastern University Dizziness Health & Medical Discussion

I Dizziness is defined as a sensation of unsteadiness or feeling off balance, faintness, lightheadedness and a feeling of movement within the head (Dunphy et al, 2019). The symptom of dizziness can be neurological, cardiac or psychological in nature. A patient’s subjective information could be vague making diagnosis more difficult. It is critical for a thorough gathering of information in order to develop the best plan of action and to rule out a potential life-threatening emergency. About 25% of patients with acute vertigo and dizziness have a life-threatening diagnosis, including stroke in 4–15% (Zwergal & Deiterich, 2020). Sycope is transient loss of consciousness that is caused by decreased cerebral perfusion (Grossman & Badireddy, 2022). In this case especially due to the syncopal episode described, the first information I would seek out is exactly when did the patient faint and did she hit her head. Since she had an episode of vomiting particularly this morning it would be of greatest concern to me and combined with age, past medical history and recently LOC, I would be sending her to the hospital. However, before heading down that path I would also ask several other questions to help fully understand her condition.

-Has the patient started new medications, changed her current medications or skipped doses of her atenolol

-Has the patient ever experienced this in the past?

-How long does the episode last? It is continuous or intermittent.

-did the patient notice any palpitations, sweating or shortness of breath prior to or during each episode

-Does anything worsen the dizziness such as positional changes

-Does anything alleviate the dizziness

-Has the patient noticed any changes in vision

-Has the patient noticed any changes in hearing

References:

Dunphy, L., Winland-Brown, J., Porter, B., & Thomas, D. (2019). Primary care: The art and science of advanced practice nursing-an interprofessional approach. F.A. Davis. 5th edition.

Grossman S., & Badireddy, M. (2022) Syncope. StatPearls Publishing. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK442006/ Links to an external site.

Zwergal, A., & Dieterich, M. (2020). Vertigo and dizziness in the emergency room. Current Opinion in Neurology 33(1):p 117-125,| Retrived from:Vertigo and dizziness in the emergency room : Current Opinion in Neurologhave to reply to this post