The Best 31 Nursing Care Plan for Leprosy Patients

Nursing Care Plan (NCP) for Leprosy Patient:

Nurses play a vital role in leprosy treatment. Nurses apply evidence-based nursing interventions for leprosy-affected patients. They assist the leprosy patient from the first diagnosis to discharge follow up. They provide systemic care to the patient and enable them to develop better interaction with the patient. Nurses are counseling the patient to continue treatment and promote self-care between them.

They provide knowledge about the sing symptoms of leprosy and reduce physical disabilities caused by leprosy. They encourage the patient’s participation in the program, provide opportunities, and stimulate the exchanges of experiences and discussion of the problems. After identifying problems, they aim to provide proper quality of care to the client’s real needs. Timely diagnosis and proper treatment is the most effective way of preventing disability.

Nursing Interventions for Leprosy Patient:  

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by the acid-fast bacillus Mycobacterium large. Some important nursing interventions for leprosy patient are pointed out below:

1. Diagnose the impaired tissue integrity and monitor the characteristics of the lesion such as size, color, odor, and drainage.
2. Clean the wounds with saline or nontoxic substances as indicated.
3. Apply a sterile bandage to cover the wounds and maintain an aseptic technique.
4. Examine the wound damage daily during each dressing change.
5. Compare the changes in ulcer daily and record regularly.
6. Routinely monitor the temperature and color of skin.
7. Encourage the affected people to maintain regular medical care with Multidrug therapy (MTD).
8. Keep continuing to follow up with the affected leprosy patient to identify relapse of leprosy disease.
9. Monitor any signs of adverse effects regarding medications and take proper action.
10. Protect hands and feet to avoid inadvertent injury and prevent chronic disability.
11. Keep skin moist to prevent dryness and fissuring and avoid ulceration or infection of the skin.
12. Educate the patient to avoid plastic footwear or gloves which trap moisture and cause ulceration.
13. Ensure adequate intake of fluid to maintain optimal skin hydration.
14. Ensure proper rest and nutrition of the affected leprosy patient.
15. Ensure proper treatment nursing of eye inflammation to preserve vision.
16. Ensure moisture of nasal mucosa with 0.9% saline and essential fatty acids.
17. Educate the patient and family members about the consequence of leprosy.
18. Nurses should educate the leprosy patient about the signs and symptoms of relapse and disease exacerbation.
19. Closely monitor the family and community people for the development of leprosy signs and symptoms.
20. Provide knowledge and increase awareness about advanced signs of neuropathy.
21. Nurses should educate the community people about signs and symptoms and the mode of transmission of leprosy.
22. Educate the patient and family members about the importance of continuing treatment with Multidrug therapy (MDT) and evaluate the efficacy of Multidrug therapy (MDT).
23. Identify patients who are not collecting drugs on time and identify the reasons and take effective actions.
24. Nurses should arrange health campaigns for early detection of leprosy and start early treatment.
25. Public awareness and education campaigns are necessary to eliminate the social stigma and isolation associated with the disease.
26. Increase awareness among family members and community people to reduce discrimination against leprosy patients.
27. Provide information to community people that leprosy is an infectious disease but curable with treatment.
28. Inform the community people that leprosy treatment is available and free of cost.
29. Also informed the community people, treated persons are no longer infectious.
30. Nurses can increase awareness among people by arranging quizzes, essay competitions with prizes, public talks, games, puppet shows, posters and leaflets, religious leaders, local public representatives, and the mass media.
31. Give psychological support to leprosy patients that they can able to live a normal life after proper treatment.

Maria Mona

Maria Khatun Mona is a Founder and Editor of Nursing Exercise Blog. She is a Nursing and Midwifery Expert. Currently she is working as a Registered Nurse at Evercare Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh. She has great passion in writing different articles on Nursing and Midwifery. Mail her at “maria.mona023@gmail.com”