Management of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease - Essay Example

Copd management Name: Institution: Date: Nurses who are observant in the early detection of complications are in a position to minimize negative outcomes for the patient. The goal of nursing intervention mainly is to improve the general health and comfort a patient in a health institution in general. The action that is undertaken to further the treatment of a patient falls also under nurses intervention because nurses are required to closely look at the health status of a patient and make assessment that may be used to make timely decisions that may help make the patient become better. The nurse’s intervention plans works in four stages. The first stage of the plan is to determine the problem or cause of the health problem. After identifying the problem the nurse then formulates an appropriate intervention plan for the patient. The nurses in this stage have to formulate a plan that will suite the patients’ health need and have to be the best that will ensure that the patient will get better with that plan. The third stage is to implement the treatment that he or she has formulated to the patient. The nurses have to implement the treatment to the patient so as to enable the patient to get better. The last stage is the follow up by the nurse and in this stage is whereby the nurse evaluates the patient and determines the outcome of the formulated intervention plan. The nurse also determines if additional interventions plan are needed to be undertaken in order to speedup up the healing process or incase if the first plan didn’t work (Desire Trait). Nurses have to subscribe to a given criteria in evaluating patient and coming up with the best interventions. A nurse asks a set of related questions, first regarding the patients description of population and their immediate settings. Secondly, the patient perceived intervention in terms of treatment and diagnostic analysis. Thirdly is the comparing between the standard method of care with new procedure or treatment. Fourth is identifying the specific outcome variable. The above questions help the nurse gather information to answer the formulated clinical questions. The nurse can then critically look at information collected and come with the best evidence. The evidence obtained can be integrated with the clinician expertise, available resources, patient conditions and patient preferences to implement a clinical plan.Finally,an evaluation of change to the practice as a result of implementing the evidence based intervention. An elderly man that has been receiving care for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for the last ten years. He has been smoking for the last ten years. Chronic obstructive is a respiratory condition characterized by the airwaves becoming progressively smaller making it hard to breathe or impossible to breathe. The elderly man with COPD had been admitted to a hospital ward with an exacerbation of their illness (Luckie). The patient admitted to the health facility complained of experiencing difficulty in breathing, inability to sit comfortably. He was forced to catch a breath after walking some distance or doing some light jogging. The diagnosis and management of COPD in basic case describes the use of spiral metric a differential type of diagnosis. There are various types of treatment options in this case including management of pharmacology, oxygen therapy, and the management of exacerbations and rehabilitations of pulmonary. COPD, pulmonary rehabilitations of respiratory system and disorders are spirametric, which is based on British indexing of nursing, the index states that some smokers will not develop emphysema, the reason being that they probably have an efficient proactive system aimed against the enzymes that maybe released by the neutrophylis or alpha 1-antitrypsin which is an antiprotease that protects the set of lungs from proteases released by neutrophylis. Defiency of alpha 1 antitrypsin can lead to early development of COPD and hence result to full blown effects of the disease in a nonsmoker. Unlike asthma, when COPD is discovered the changes are irreversible and grows in lips and bounds as longs as the patient continues to smoke. Patients with the complication will experience a faster decline in their forced expiratory volume (FEV) (Sue Hinchliff). With increase in the severity of the disease the alveoli are hypo ventilated and the victim becomes hypoxic (Maryse. Pischer). The lungs lose their power and ability to oxygenate the components of blood and the patient will develop respiratory failure. The treatment to hypoxic is long-term oxygen therapy. One of the conditions that occur as a result of primary pulmonary disease is known as Cor-pulmonale which occurs when alveoli are not well ventilated. A COPD patient shows the following symptoms, a prolonged cough that lasts for a very long time for example, three minutes or more, wheezing, which is a sound of whistling while breathing, loss of weight, fatigue or tiredness, when making a simple effort there a tendency of losing breathe. Infections of the lungs that last for a long time, for example acute bronchitis, pneumonia and flu. A nurse who is monitoring the progress of his or her patient should look out for the following symptoms to know that the COPD had aggravated (Luckie). The patient complains of chest pains, shows signs of drowsiness, has acute loss of breathe, also shows signs of blue fingers and lips and is also more agitated confusion and can’t think clearly. COPD has no cure as of yet but with the right treatment and prescription, the effects of COPD can be lessen. Some of the measures and treatment that can be undertaken include the following; the patient is required to quit smoking as a part of the treatment. The damage of COPD does not stop until one quits smoking because smoking has very adverse effects on the condition of the patient and it gets worse as the patient continues to smoke (Domenico Spina). It’s also very advisable for the patient to stay away from second-hand smoke and pollution because they also contribute to the condition Another measure taken to treat COPD is taking the prescribed medication. This helps to lessen the symptoms and to reduce the severity of the disease on the patient. Since there is no cure the medication is helpful in this case to enable the patient to lead a normal life. Also the patient is advised to join a pulmonary rehabilitation program. This is like a rehab which specializes in exercise program that targets people with long-term lung diseases like the COPD. This program entails exercising and enabling the patient get out the most of their breathe. With this exercises the patient can be able to know how to maintain a healthy life and also be able to counter the effects of the disease (Maryse. Pischer). As we have seen, COPD is not curable and thus the medication prescribed is not a cure but they are rather used to lessen the effects of the COPD. With taking the right medication and at the right time then the right results from the medication can be acquired and in return the health of the patient can be restored. Different medication does different things for COPD patients. Firstly there are bronchodilators, and this are taken to ease the problem of short breathe. Examples of bronchodilators include inhalers; some of the inhalers are salmeterol and salbutamol (Domenico Spina). Another type of medication includes the combination medicine and corticosteroids pills. This helps to treat and prevent COPD flare-ups. Flare-ups in this case are the worsening of the condition of the patient and they are the main reason that patients go to hospital since sometimes it can be fatal. Some of the combination medicine used includes advair and also symbicort. Combinations medicine in this case can combine a bronchodilator and the corticosteroid pills (Domenico Spina). Antibiotics are also used in the treatment of COPD. They are used to prevent and treat the infections and as a result they prevent flare-ups. Flu and pneumonia vaccines are used to prevent infections as well. For the patients with short breathes, supplemental oxygen is prescribed which helps to boost the oxygen levels in the patient’s body. There are two types of bronchodilators that come with inhalors and this are beta 2 agonist which include terbutain (bricanyl) and termuoterol (oxeze). Some side effects include sincreasing rate of the heartbeat, irritability, irregular heartbeat, cramps in muscles, sleeping difficult and shaky hands (Luckie). Side effects are more or less noticeable as times goes by. Some side effects; dry mouth in some occasion are observed in me who have difficulty with their prostate thus leading to difficulty in urinating (Sue Hinchliff). Some popular medicine prescribed are anti-choligernes and they include ipratropium bromide and frotropium “Spiriva’. Patients suffering from COPD run the risk of developing severe forms of the disease if left undiagnosed at early stages. The important aspect in managing COPD is identifying those at risk of the condition and regularly check the patient’s lung function, the nurses play an important role in detecting and treating COPD.Nurses who are observant in the early detection of complications are in a position to minimize negative outcomes for the patient.one of the cheapest, reliable and simple of detecting and monitoring patients with COPD is spirometry.it can be used as basis of finding differential diagnosis the method has the distinction of providing immediate results while at the same time promoting behavior change among smokers (Desire Trait). All in all the point is that an early diagnosis and timely therapy can bring about positive patient outcomes by influencing the direction of disease, reducing incidence of acute flares, redressing symptoms and deterioration. The nurses should advice their patients appropriately on managing the CORP.This include first, avoiding the risk factors for people at risk at any stage of the disease.seconldly,for mild but severe patients have them added a dose of short acting bronchododilator.thirdly,the patients should be regularly treated with one or more long- acting bronchodilators if they are having moderate and severe forms of the disease.forth,when faced with frequent exarcabation,have the patient added inhaled glucocortcosteroids with severe or very severe form of the disease, last but not include long-term therapy for patients with severe disease. References Desire Trait, David Barton,Jane James,Cate Williams. Acute and Critical Care in Adult Nursing,Transforming Nursing Patients. London: Sage, 2012. Domenico Spina, Clive P. Page. Drugs For Treatment of Respiratory Diseases. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Luckie, Angela Mc. Respiratory Disease and it's Management. London: Springer, 2009. Maryse. Pischer, Richard C. Boucher. Purinergic Regulation of Respiratory Diseases. London: Springer, 2011. Sue Hinchliff, Sue Norman,Jane Schober. Nursing Practice and Healthcare. New York: CRC Press, 2008. Read More