Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia

Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia
Corso di laurea in infermieristica - Sede di Modena

Abstract

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease whose cause is still unknown. The progression of the disease leads the person to disability and death with an average survival of 3-5 years. The clinical picture is characterized by weakness with slowness, hyperreflexia, spasticity, atrophy and fasciculations. The diagnosis is mainly clinical and the treatment consists in the use of drugs that slow down the progression of the disease. For the person affected by ALS, family and / or caregiver integrated care pathways from the time of diagnosis to death are planned with a multidisciplinary and inter-professional team. The nurse intervenes by controlling the symptomatology, psychologically supporting the person, the family and / or the caregiver, training the caregiver to assist the patient at home in order to improve the quality of life of the person and his family. Furthermore, the nursing figure is particularly important in the context of palliative care because, thanks to his advanced relational skills, he accompanies the patient and the family to the end of their life, allowing them to preserve their dignity in such a delicate moment. In this paper, finally, the main NANDA-I nursing diagnoses aimed at the person with ALS and the caregiver in the initial phase of the disease and in the developmental / terminal phase have been identified.
From the literature review it emerges how complex the management of the person with ALS, of his family and / or of the caregiver is for a holistic type of nursing care and how important the nurse's role is for the well-being of the patient and who surrounds him.