Pneumonia Case Study Essay

Case Study: D.Q. is a 57-year-old male who worked in a water treatment plant for many years. He also smoked heavily for approximately 30 years. He has been diagnosed with COPD. During an extremely hot summer, he arrived at the emergency department in severe exacerbation of the COPD. The patient’s heart rate is 123, blood pressure is 163/90, respiratory rate is 34, oxygen saturation is 86% on 2 L NC, and temperature is 37.5 celsius.

I will analyse the prevalence of the condition and what the potential causes may be. My interests have been directed to pre hospital care and community lead treatment packages, which are potentially available to the patient, as this is the acute environment, which I will have contact with in my employment as a paramedic. The initial reading was to understand COPD as a chronic condition, what is COPD? and its prevalence in the population. The (World health organisation, 2000), states that one in four deaths in the world are caused by COPD. In 2010 (Vos T Flaxman etal, 2012), says globally there were approximately 329 million, which is 4.8% of the population who are affected by this chronic condition, In the UK (NICE, 2010), have estimated that 3 million people suffer from COPD, with more yet to be diagnosed. This information about the amount of people living with this condition was surprising, as I little knowledge of its existence. During the early 1960’s (Timothy Q. Howes, 2005), says the term COPD had been designated as a single term unifying all the chronic respiratory diseases. Since then the term COPD, has been sub divided in to three umbrella areas, Bronchitis, Emphysema and Chronic asthma, which are separate conditions, which I have been previously aware of as their individual conditions. The 58 year old patient who we visited,

This is a case study on a 76 year old man.Mr Alan Chari(pseudonym used to protect the identity of a patient),was admitted over night in my department.He is a divorcee who stays with son.He is a retired teacher and his son is permanently employed by a local company as an electrician.He is independent with activities of daily livings but is occasionally limited by his ill health.He used to be a heavy smoker .After realising the burden COPD has on general New Zealand population ,affecting about15% of the adult population over the age of 45 years according to asthmanz( 2010) ,l took this case study to gain in-depth understanding.

There are no cure for this disease. However, there are different treatment to prevent further deterioration of the lungs function in order to improve the quality of life of the patient by increasing capacity of their physical activity. One of the main severe complication a patient with COPD can develop is exacerbation. Increased breathlessness, increased sputum volume and purulent sputum are the signs and symptoms of exacerbation. Early detection of the signs of exacerbation can help keep the condition of the patient from worsening. The treatments of COPD mainly aims at controlling the symptoms of exacerbation such as taking inhalers. Patients who are over the age of 35 and ex-smokers with chronic cough and bronchitis are recommended to have spirometer (NICE, 2004). This is because it is possible to delay or prevent patients from developing severe case of COPD is identified before they lose their lungs functions. Oxygen therapy is another treatment for COPD as the patients with this condition has high

CURRENT MEDICATIONS: Lovastatin 20 mg po per day, Enalapril 20 mg po bid, Nitroglycerin 0.4 mg sub q prn for chest pain.

The topic is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). It is an umbrella term used for respiratory disorders such as chronic asthma, chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It is a serious condition that restricts airflow to the lungs and is not fully reversible. It is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Australia. More than 1 in 20 Australians over 55 have COPD and is also the fifth leading cause of death. There is also a rate of 1,008 per 100,000 of the population aged 55 and over being hospitalized for the condition. The rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders compared with non-indigenous Australians are 2.5 times as high (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2016). There is no cure however; the management can slow the disease progression and is therefore crucial to the quality of life of patients.

CURRENT MEDICATIONS: Lovastatin 20 mg po per day, Enalapril 20 mg po bid, Nitroglycerin 0.4 mg sub q prn for chest pain.

MEDICATIONS: Any use of diuretics, pain medications, antiarrhythmic agents, anti-seizure drugs, sedatives, antibiotics, antihistamines, barbiturates, cephalosporins, salicylates, and sulfonamides?(Ross & Basello, 2003)

In this reflective piece of writing I will be explaining how chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects the patient physically, psychologically ,and socially ,I will also explain how the disease affects his daily routine and how it impacts on his family life. I will give an overview of the clinical signs and symptoms, how the disease alters the pathphysiology of the lungs, and what these changes cause within the body.

The effectiveness of Family Support Caregiver in improving the Functional Status of Client with Pulmonary Diseases.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, also known as COPD, is the third leading cause of death in the United States. COPD includes extensive lungs diseases such as emphysema, non-reversible asthma, specific forms of bronchiectasis, and chronic bronchitis. This disease restricts the flow of air in and out of the lungs. Ways in which these limitations may occur include the loss of elasticity in the air sacs and throughout the airways, the destruction of the walls between air sacs, the inflammation or thickening of airway walls, or the overproduction of mucus in airways which can lead to blockage. Throughout this paper I am going to explain the main causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and ways to reduce COPD.

blureed vision , diffuclt breathing , sweating , confusion , blue skin lips and finger , drowniess , sleepiness

If one has a headache one might go for an analgesic. If one is diagnosed with depression or anxiety one would likely be prescribed anti-depressants. If one has an infection one would be offered antibiotics. Anti-coagulants are to prevent blood clotting.

Their evident differences in chemical structure and pharmacology (both kinetics and dynamics) cause the antihistamines to differ among each other from the potential toxicity perspective (3). Side effects of the antihistamines are common varying from 50 per cent to 10 per cent with different compounds. Sedation is the commonest, but excitation is not unusual and occurs with most of these drugs in very large doses (4). As a result, detailed knowledge of these differentiating aspects is needed when deciding to prescribe one antihistamine or other particularly when the patient belongs to a risk group, such as extreme ages, pregnancy, or in the presence of background disease affecting kidney or liver function (3)

4.) Acetaminophen-Oxycodone (Trade Name: Percocet 5/325) 1-2 tablets by mouth, every four hours; used for decreasing pain as well as decreasing a temperature (Deglin & Vallerand, 2007).