Reflection

Reflection
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Reflection
During my practicum experience, I had more interaction with patients diagnosed with pharyngitis or a sore throat as it is commonly known. Scientifically, pharyngitis refers to the swelling of the pharynx (MedlinePlus, 2018). Pharyngitis causes scratchiness in the throat, and as a result, swallowing of both liquid and solid food becomes difficult. Within my practicum setting, I interacted with one of such patients. He complained of pain, especially during swallowing. Apart from the itchy throat, he reported other symptoms such as a headache, body ache, fatigue, cough, sneezing among others.
The interaction with this patient prompted me to carry out research to establish the causes of pharyngitis, its treatment, and management methods among other related issues. From the research, I found out that various bacterial and viral agents cause pharyngitis. The most common agents are croup, chickenpox, adenovirus, and measles (MedlinePlus, 2018). However, the viral infection is the common cause of the ailment.
In assessing the patient, he confessed to using antibiotics in trying to help reduce the pain. However, he said antibiotics were not useful since even after taking the drugs, he could still feel pain when swallowing and hence his reason for visiting the healthcare facility to seek for better medication. Notably, the patient was suffering from pharyngitis caused by a viral infection, and thus the virus could not res…