Nursing Care for Patients with Gastrointestinal Bleeding

Gastrointestinal bleeding refers to bleeding anywhere in the digestive system, starting from the mouth,esophagus, stomach, small intestines, large intestines, and anus. Causes of bleeding can be ulcers,diverticulitis, ulcerative colitis, polyps, gastrointestinal infection, tumors, Crohn's disease, liver disease,Mallory Weis syndrome, angiodysplasia, neoplasms, or certain medications. Gastrointestinal bleedingcan be either lower gastrointestinal bleeding or upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Most minor bleedingstops spontaneously, whereas significant bleeding from conditions such as esophageal varices or pepticulcer perforation can be fatal. A patient who loses intravascular volume due to massive bleeding may gointo hypovolemic shock. The basic principle in managing a patient with gastrointestinal bleeding is torestore hemodynamics and stabilize the patient rapidly. In order to manage patients appropriately, thenurse caring for the patient should know critical patient care, apply care standards, follow currentguidelines, and contribute to the literature as a caregiver.Keywords: bleeding, endoscopy, gastrointestinal tract, nursing care, nursing