Asthma Nursing Research Paper (Research Paper Sample)

Asthma
Name
CourseProfessorUniversity StateDate
Introduction
Asthma is a non-curable repertory disorder caused by the inflammation of the airways in the human lungs causing wheezing, shortness of breath and coughing. Other terms associated with asthma are Cardiac asthma and Bronchial asthma (American Lung Association, 2010).
According to NHS.UK, there are about 34 million people who suffer from asthma in the United State of which 5 million of them are children under the age of 18 years. Asthma claims 5,500 deaths each year in the United States (American Lung Association, 2010). In the United Kingdom, 5.4 million people have asthma, which means one in five households are affected by the condition. Asthma can occur in both to male and female alike and has no specific age that it targets (Health Departments of Great Britain, 2010, p. 17). The condition also does not have specific age group, ethnicity, or social level that it targets. However asthma has been observed to be more prevalent in Poor neighborhoods with cold climate. From 1982 to 1994 asthma increased about 60 percent where some scientists believe that the increase was caused by increase of second hand smoking exposure, polluted intercity and housing developed with poor ventilation (Moorman, 2007, p. 43).
Role of a Nurse when Dealing with Asthmatic Individuals
Literature investigation via Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL) revealed a number of nursing journal articles relevant to asthma. About 8 article that I read through outlined different roles the nurses play in the prevention and treatment of Asthma. The recovery approach in nursing patients with asthma is largely based on the documentation of the patient’s biography which is important in understanding the causes of the illness (Health Departments of Great Britain, 2010, p. 17).
Defining an exacerbation
An exacerbation refers to the deterioration in control level experienced by a person suffering from asthma. The duration and deterioration level is important which necessitates a full history being obtained to help in the identification of whether the person is in a normal state or whether a loss of control has happened over the past specific time frame. A history of asthma on health risk assessments, as well as referrals should be examined by a nurse. Some of the details that a nurse should look on include;
Medical Records Providers
Patient’s personal details such as their name of the patient, ID numbers, date of birth, age and weight. SOAP notes from all the medical practitioners who might have attended the patient.
Initial and follow- up visits
Acute inpatient and outpatient visits.
Chief Complaint and Subjective History
Fundamental signs and symptoms; pulse rate, blood pressure, Peak expiratory flow (PEF), Pulse oximetry, body temperature, the respiration rate and unexplained fatigue or confusion. Considerations for patients with chronic stable lung attacks.
Past Medical History
Medical history of the patient, testing and results of the testing before and after the illness, the results of the tests, were there any complications, and recommendation from the doctor who handled the patient. E.g. caution on future complications.
Current Medical and Rehabilitation Situation
The nurse need to contact and interview the asthma patient to determine the accuracy
of asthma and patient’s placement by Academy Health management(AHM) as high risk. If the diagnosis is accurate, patient enrolled for a comprehensive educational care/program plan that emphasizes preventive measures and early recognition of CHF will be developed for the patient. If patient is determined to be at low risk, patient can be referred to the Member services Outreach coordinator for follow-up.
Treatment
Since this is a chronic and a relapsing illness, it therefore requires a long term treatment even when symptoms are not visible. An asthma patient would need medication to prevent new symptoms. A nurse has an important role of prescribing medications that can prevent asthma. Corticosteroid is a widely prescribed anti-inflammatory medication for asthma. Proventil and Ventalin are the other names given to this medication
(Explore Asthma, 2011, p. 52).
It is vital for nurses to be aware of recommendable programs that supports people with asthma so that they are able to refer a patient who in turn benefit from continued support after they are discharge from the hospital. Transitioning from an environment where they had all the support to being without support leads many patients feeling abandoned once they leave the hospital. Educating and giving resources to the patient can make them feel at ease and will benefit them in their overall health recovery. Knowing that they can continue to receive support outside the hospital can motivate and strengthen the individual capabilities for self-care and responsibilities. The nurse will also feel comfort in knowing that there are outside resources she can depend on to continue to care for the patient.
The nurse provides services at the patients’ home and teachings to the patients regarding their treatment plans. Some of these teachings include demonstrations. E.g. type of diet that should be taken by asthma patients. The nurse has a role of providing information on the causes of the illnesses and to stipulate the measure the patient should take to avoid severity of the problem (Explore Asthma, 2011, p. 51). It is therefore fair to conclude that a nurse serves as the first point of contact in clinical issues. They have the necessary skills and competency to develop comprehensive plans and policies. The nurse evaluates the response of the asthma patients to medication and provides them with the necessary advice including referrals (Qureshi, 2002).
The nurses help the patients as they visit and monitor the patients and residents at their homes to ensure that patient’s health are improving. They also ensure that the residents are taking the necessary steps to shun exposure to modifiable factors that impact on asthma. In cases where nurses are encountered with emergency situations during the door to door interviews, they provide the basic first aid and because they stay in contact with other physicians, they seek their quick interventions (Explore Asthma, 2011, p. 50).
In order for asthma patient to improve his or her health, it is important to monitor the medication. A skilled nurse in treatments of the condition would be helpful to navigate the twists and symptoms turns of the patient (CDC, 2011, p. 25).
Education
A nurse is very instrumental and plays many roles as an educator in the sense that they use their professional experience to educate the public, outpatients or inpatients, with relevant asthma related information. For example a community nurse has an important role in implementation of interventions programs aimed at reducing smoking among indigenous Australians (Explore Asthma, 2011, p. 49).
An inpatient nurse is an educator to asthma patients because asthma patient require more knowledge about asthma to enhance the rate of their own recovery. The asthma outpatient nurses are on the other hand encountered with an immense role to sensitize the community on the dynamics of asthma. These nurses help different social groups such as the elderly and children to effectively manage their chronic health problems and remain at home. They act as advocates of the patients connecting them with medical hospital partners such as the home based health care facilities (Naya, 2010, p. 88). Nurses identify, reach, educate, and treat people living with asthma thereby bringing the disease under control in the affected areas.
Leadership
A nurse is a leader by giving direction to programs such as the United States’ The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) and the National Asthma Control Program (NACP) on the available approaches to win the fight against asthma. Particularly, a licensed practical nurse is very valuable as a provider of professional advice and inpatient care for acute asthma patients. They participate in the organization’s programs such as The Community Asthma Prevention Program (CAPP) and speak in such settings as schools, Colleges, workplaces and organizations (Explore Asthma, 2011, p. 112). The key roles of a community nurse include the assessment of the illness, and provision of health care needs for the patients. The community nurse provides direct care to the patients, families, or a group of people that are affected by the illness.
Resources needed by the Nurse
The scope of practice for a health nurse in promoting prevention services and care to asthma patients includes the use of knowledge leant in nursing, socially, and in public health sciences. The key resources of a community health nurse to deal with situations outside their scope of practice are the nursing skills which are outside the scope of practice for the community health nurse. Such skills include the ability to administer anti-inflammatory medication, hyper alimentation therapies or care of nasogastric tubes
(Department of Health Services, 2012).
Other resources include their creative problem-solving skills which entail resolving the problem with whatever resources that is available. Another resource is the systems and models that would maximize utilizing other health professionals in their cycle. The community health nurse should engage other people to assist teaching children and adults on how to control their asthma (Department of Health Services, 2012).
The nursing personnel need skills when undertaking asthma management programs. Such skills includes;
Ability to define an exacerbation
Ability of the nurse to identify deviation from norm that may cause emergencies for asthma patients and desc...