JOURNAL 6

Journal 6
Student’s Name
Institution’s Affiliation
Practicum Experience
The practicum gave me an opportunity to explore my field of interest; the public health field. It helped me to discover my main interests within the field and adequately integrate my coursework knowledge with the field experiences. From experience gained, I was able to reshape my career goals to integrate the field knowledge.
I had an encounter with Jonas, 10 who has had a series of conjunctivitis episodes since he was 5. On this day, he was accompanied by both parents who appeared to have little signs of hope. He has frequent visits to the facility in the last two months and is showing no sign of improvement. He could barely see and had pink and greenish pus from his eyes. On close examination with an ophthalmoscope, there were lesions on the conjunctiva making the surface of the eye rougher than usual.
His medical history shows that Jonas has had an allergic reaction to pollen and had intense eye irritation during the season. But this time, it is not the season for pollen; hence, I supposed that the condition might not be as a result of pollen. Therefore, I took samples of eye discharge for examination in the hospital’s lab.
On examination, I established that the patient was suffering from bacterial conjunctivitis and not allergic conjunctivitis. Bacterial conjunctivitis is caused by Staphylococcus species and results in thicker eye discharge compared to allergic conjunctivitis (Gary & Marrow, 2018).

Both types often manifest the same symptoms, hence can only be differentiated by laboratory examinations (Pink Eye, 2017). It is estimated that more than 80% of conjunctivitis cases are as a result of virus invasion (Azari & Barney, 2013). Proper diagnosis will lead to better treatment outcomes.
After five days, Jonas came for a checkup and was much relieved. He responded well to the antibiotic eye-drops prescribed on the day of treatment. From this response to treatment, we established that previously, Jonas was not given the right medication. In the previous cases, healthcare personnel who attended him assumed that he was suffering from allergic conjunctivitis due to his medical history.

References
Azari, A. A., & Barney, N. P. (2013). “Conjunctivitis a Systematic Review of Diagnosis and Treatment.” Jama, 310(16), 1721-1730. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4049531/Gary, L., & Marrow, M., D. (2018). “Conjunctivitis.” American Academy of Family Physicians. Retrieved from https://www.aafp.org/afp/1998/0215/p735.html“Pink Eye: Conjunctivitis.” (2017). Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/pink-eye/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20376360