Module 6: Clinical Assessment: Recognizing Symptoms of Deterioration in Patients with IDD

Introduction to the Module

You will learn how to recognize the symptoms of deterioration in patients with IDD with a focus on the common conditions that are known to have fatal outcomes for people with IDD.  Additionally, this module will provide you with a strategy for implementation of the communication tool, SBAR (Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation), a technique to ensure physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant immediate attention and action.

Introduction of the Subject Matter Expert: 

Dr. Beth Kiss, DNP, FNP-BC, RN

Dr. Beth Kiss is the Adult Nurse Practitioner at the Golisano Institute for Developmental Disability Nursing and an Associate Professor for the Wegmans School of Nursing at St. John Fisher University. Dr. Kiss has led the development of a model for the integration of content on intellectual and developmental disabilities into undergraduate nursing programs. She has been involved in grant initiatives to support individuals with developmental disabilities and published in peer-reviewed nursing journals on topics such as: nursing practice partnerships, nursing leadership, infectious diseases, skin care and developmental disabilities. She is currently a Nurse Practitioner in Surgical Oncology at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

What you will learn:   

1. Identify the fatal five conditions plus sepsis
2. List common symptoms associated with the fatal five
3. Perform a Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation (SBAR) communication for each of the fatal five conditions  
4. List the signs of deterioration you would assess for in the associated case study