Reflective Post Sample 1: Recent Experience in My Practicum – Solution

Recent Experience in My Practicum – In my recent practicum, I encountered a six-year-old patient with pinworm infection. Pinworms, also known as threadworms, are parasites that live in the intestines and lay eggs on the anus, causing enterobiasis

Instruction

Select an experience you have had recently in your practicum. Describe the experience, your thoughts and feelings, your evaluation of the situation, your analysis of the experience, conclusions and learning from the experience, and your action plan resulting from the experience, using scholarly writing, APA 7th ed. 

Solution

Reflective Post

Recent Experience in My Practicum

In my recent practicum, I encountered a six-year-old patient with pinworm infection. Pinworms, also known as threadworms, are parasites that live in the intestines and lay eggs on the anus, causing enterobiasis (Muliawati et al., 2020).

Experience, Thoughts, and Feelings

The patient was accompanied by his mother. She reported that the patient has been having restless sleep and frequent itching of the anal area. I was sure it was a pinworm infection from the given symptoms, but I had to carry out a diagnosis for confirmation.

Situation Evaluation

Pinworm infection can be diagnosed using a tape test or samples from under the patient’s fingernails (CDC, 2019). The first option is ideal when the patient wakes up, and the second is if he has scratched his anal area. However, stool samples are not recommended because the pinworms are sparse in the stool (Muliawati et al., 2020). Therefore, I decided to instruct the patient’s mother on how to do the tape test as soon as the patient wakes up and before he uses the washroom. Then, I asked her to bring the tape for diagnosis the following morning.

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Analysis, Conclusion, and Learning

After observing the tape under a microscope, I found tapeworms and eggs. In addition to the anal itching and restless sleep, the findings confirmed that the patient had enterobiasis. It is one of the most common infections in the United States, although it does not have serious medical problems. While it can affect individuals of all ages, it is more prevalent among school-going children. Also, family members and caregivers of patients with pinworm infections are at a higher risk of disease (Giorgi, n.d).

I learned that daycares and preschools are the primary sources of pinworm infection, spreading from one person to another. Besides, pinworms may leave the patient’s body and remain on their garments and bed sheets, spreading to other individuals who contact them.

Action Plan

Pinworm infection is treated using anti-parasitic medication. Therefore, I prescribed Pyrantel pamoate, where the patient and the mother took one dose at the facility and would take another one two weeks later (Giorgi, n.d). Additionally, I recommended that they wash their hands often, clean surfaces, trim fingernails, wash bed sheets and underclothes, and avoid touching the anal area to prevent reinfection (Muliawati et al., 2020).

References

CDC. (2019, April 19). Pinworm Treatment. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/pinworm/treatment.html

Giorgi, A. (n.d.). Pinworms: Infection, causes, symptoms, treatment, prevention. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/pinworms#symptoms

Muliawati, R., Mushidah, M., & Musyarofah, S. (2020). Personal hygiene and anthelmintic consumption prevent enterobiasis among primary school children. Jurnal Berkala Epidemiologi, 8(3), 265. https://doi.org/10.20473/jbe.v8i32020.265-274

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