Nursing a critically ill tetanus patient in an intensive care unit in Zambia

Abstract

The global incidence of tetanus has been gradually reducing. Improvements in vaccination and health education programmes and the World Health Organization campaign to eradicate maternal and neonatal tetanus have all resulted in fewer presentations globally. Unfortunately, tetanus mortality remains a significant problem for many developing countries, owing to inadequate vaccination programmes or to conflict or humanitarian disasters during which vaccination programmes are stopped or there is sporadic cover. This case study explores the care of a tetanus patient in an intensive care unit in Zambia, a lower-middle-income country in sub-Saharan Africa.

Keywords: Critical care nursing; Developing countries; International nursing; Tetanus; Vaccination; Zambia.