STUDENT: Kaléi Kowalchik

PROJECT ADVISOR: Michael M. Evans

ABSTRACT

Functional somatic syndromes, including disease such as fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, often contain unexplained medical symptomology which remains invisible to the onlooker. The nature of the presentation of these syndromes cultivates more bias from healthcare workers, resulting in a dysfunctional care cycle for the patient. Literature was analyzed to determine best practices for care of this population in a medical/surgical setting This information will be presented in a case study format.
Methods
A review of literature was conducted searching for evidence surrounding caring for patients with functional somatic syndrome in the medical/surgical setting. All databases related to the health sciences were searched to locate scholarly evidence sources. The search terms of functional somatic syndromes, and acute care and medical/surgical nurses were utilized.
Results
Twelve articles were reviewed for their relevancy to this project. They showed that the following areas were pertinent to caring for patients with functional somatic syndromes in a medical/surgical setting: utilizing palliative care, understanding the individuality of each patient, taking patient reports seriously, and combining areas of pharmacotherapy, exercise, and psychological therapies throughout the treatment plan.
Conclusions
By incorporating aspects of palliative care and interdisciplinary team based approaches, patients will be able to better manage their functional somatic syndrome.