Digestive system & Urinary system By Jessica Cronin Melissa Rutherford

What are they. The digestive system is a continuous muscular digestive tube that winds through the body. Its main role is to digest food and absorb these digested fragments through its lining into the blood. The organs it contains consist of the mouth, teeth, tongue, salivary glands, pharynx, oesophagus, liver, gall-bladder, stomach, the small and large intestines and anus.

The urinary system maintains the balance of water and electrolytes in the blood and excretes the waste products of metabolism. The urinary system contains the kidneys, Ureter, Urethra and the bladder.

The digestive system and urinary system, like every other system in the body sometimes can stop working to its full effectiveness. When this happens its important for the health of a patient to get to the bottom of what is causing the problem. To be able to even diagnose the issue, the problem needs to be found. To help find the problem a nurse will need to use some assessing techniques.

Why we need assessment tools Assessment tools are apart of the nursing process and are away in which nurses can help determine impact of the patients underlying disease. Within the digestive system and urinary system it is important for nurses to be able to use these assessment tools to be able help determine health issues such as dehydration, malnutrition or oedema. If not treated in early stages most medical problems will worsen is severity or become a reason for a more serious illness to occur. In the case of dehydration and malnutrition if these illnesses are not identified and treated death can occur.

Different types of nursing assessments There are many different types of nursing assessments that can be used to help identify an issue within the body. These tools are vital in everyday nursing care. Some examples of these are a basic set of OB’s, risk of fall assessment, skin tears assessment. However in relation to the digestive system and urinary system, two nursing tools that could be used effectively to help get more information about a digestive disease or illness is a Bristol stool chart or a fluid balance sheet.

What is the Bristol stool chart. The Bristol stool chart is a nursing tool that is used to assess a patients stools. It does this by comparing the faecal matter to a chart with 7 different types of faeces, ranging from small hard lumps to a liquid matter. This is a useful tool for a nurse as it allows the nurse to have more knowledge of the patients nutrient levels and be able to take action to resolve any problems that may have occurred within the system. Bristol stool chart is in relation to the digestive system and how well it is functioning.

Bristol stool chart and the digestive system The Bristol stool chart is an effective way to determine what is happening in the digestive system as it allows the nurse to compare what is normal and what is abnormal. A faeces can tell a nurse whether a patient has abnormalities happening inside, for example if a stool has blood in it this can mean that there is a tear or abrasion somewhere along the digestive tract.

How to read the Bristol stool chart The Bristol stool chart is a very straight forward tool. The health practitioner, whether it be a doctor or a nurse, compares the patient’s faeces to the list and determines which number it is. By comparing they can then work out a nursing plan to improve the patients digestion and nutrition to ideally improve the faecal matter and try and reach the ideal rating of a type 4.

Fluid balance chart Like wise to the Bristol stool chart, a fluid balance chart is a nursing tool that that is used to recorded both fluid in puts and out puts. In puts include any fluid that goes into the body, such as IV drips and liquids consumed. Outputs are an accountable measurement of any fluids leaving the body through such bodily processes as vomiting, urinating or defecating.

Consequence of not getting enough fluid. A fluid balance chart is a vital part of a patients assessment as it allows the nurse or doctor to keep track of a patients hydration levels and electrolyte balance. Insufficient in put of liquid can lead to headaches, dizziness, dry lips and skin, dehydration and hallucination. The colour of the urine is a clear indicator of dehydration levels. Normal healthy urine should be a ‘straw’ like colour and have no offensive odours.

Fluid balance chart in relation to the urinary system Unlike the Bristol stool chart which is only in reference to the digestive system, the fluid balance chart combines both the digestive and the urinary systems together. Fluid is consumed through the digestive system. It is then filtered through the kidneys and eliminated via the urethra, the body should produce mLs of urine daily. If the body eliminating enough urine daily a nurse can tell by examining a fluid balance chart and assess the situation further. For example, if a person is not eliminating enough fluid this could be a sign of fluid retention or oedema, the nurse then can do further tests to find the problem at hand.

Fluid balance chart in relation to the digestive system Fluid balance charts are important in the assessment of the digestive system as it allows the nurse to determine if a digestive problem has occurred by measuring the amount of fluid out put in comparison to input. If a patient has been vomiting it allows the nurse to determine how much fluid has been retained in the body to help diagnose whether or not a patient could be dehydrated.

Summary In conclusion, it is vitally important for a nurse to use tools such as the Bristol stool chart and a fluid balance chart as an assessment technique in monitoring how well the body systems are working. These tools help a nurse identify problems as they arise and to treat them before they become worse.

References. G. Cheers (2002) The Human Body Atlas. Sydney: The Five Mile Press C. Jarvis (2008) Physical examination and health assessment 5 th edition. Canada: Elsevier J. Crisp and C. Taylor (2009) Fundamentals of nursing. Chatswood: Elsevier. G. Ross, C. G. (1964). Assessment of Routine Tests For Occult Blood in Faeces. British Medical Journal. M. Shehata, S. B. (2009). Effect of conversion from mycophenolate mofetil to enteric-coated mycophenolate sodium on maximum tolerated dose and gastrointestinal symptoms following kidney transplantation. European society for organ transplantation.

References WJ. Germann, C. S. (2002). Principles of human physiology. France: Lavoisier B. Michael, M.D. Cohen (2006). Urinary System. American Cancer Society. I. McCallum, S. O.-J. (2009). The Importance of Psychological Factors. Chronic constipation in adults.