The Severe Asthma Attack

Asthma is a long-term lung disease. Those with asthma have sensitive airways in their lungs which triggers a flare up. When this flare up happens the muscle around the airways squeeze tight and the airways swell, become narrows and produce more mucus. (Anon., 2016) All these things make it harder for a person to breathe. Asthma effects the human body’s respiratory system. Asthma causes a spasm and constriction of the bronchial passages and the swelling and the inflammation of the mucous lining. The body responds by defence cells from the immune system, which causes the airways to swell and the muscles surrounding the airways to contract. Which is what cuts off the airflow. While a person is in asthma attack, the asthmatic cannot breathe which

Task analysis is the process of obtaining information about a job by determining the duties, tasks, and activities involved and the knowledge, skills, and abilities required in performing each task. There can be broken down into six

In an emergency situation, why is a drug most commonly delivered via injection versus an oral route?

This assignment is a case study of a patient who was admitted to a respiratory ward with acute exacerbation of asthma. This assignment will discuss nursing an adult patient with asthma, also it will aim to critically assess, plan, implement and evaluate the patients nursing needs using the Roper, Logan and Tierney nursing model (1980). This case study will focus on the maintaining a safe environment. It is worth noting that the activities of daily living are interlinked e.g. according to Roper et al (1980) breathing is an activity that is crucial for life therefore all other activities are dependent on us being able to breathe. The nursing management, pharmacological agents and the tools used will be critically

R.J. is a 15-year-old boy with a history of asthma diagnosed at age 8. His asthma episodes are triggered by exposure to cats and various plant pollens. He has been using his albuterol inhaler 10 to 12 times per day over the last 3 days and is continuing to wheeze. He normally needs his inhaler only occasionally (2 or 3 times per week). He takes no other medications and has no other known medical conditions. Physical examination reveals moderate respiratory distress with a respiratory rate of 32, oximetry 90%, peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) 60% of predicted, and expiratory wheezing.

Asthma Attack – An asthma attack is a sudden worsening of asthma symptoms caused by the tightening of muscles around the airways. During an asthma attack, the lining of the airways also become swollen or inflamed and thicker mucus, more than normal, is produced. All of these factors, cause symptoms of an asthma attack such as difficulty breathing,

Eight-year-old B.J. has had asthma for 2 years since he had acute bronchitis. He was tested for allergies and demonstrated marked responses to a number of animals, pollens, and molds. B.J. also has a history of asthma related to exposure to very cold weather.

An individual cannot predict when an asthma attack happens. They do not have the inhaler with them in an emergency. They go to their phone to open the Inhaler App to find their inhaler. The situation is dire. They decide to call 911 through the app. The app sends a text to 911 with the GPS location and an automated message.

“Sarah is at Children's Hospital, in the ICU”. Those are the words that changed my life. Sarah is extremely sick and it's making me want to be smart, strong, and kind. My sister, Sarah had lung failure when she was in 7th grade, she was hospitalized and stayed at Children’s Hospital in the ICU for around a week. Nearly a year later they found out what was wrong with her, she has Chronic Eosinophilic Pneumonia and Severe Asthma. When I saw her get sick I saw her being strong, nice, and keeping up on school work she made me want to have these qualities as well.

In addition, asthma affects the smooth muscle walls and glands of the bronchioles, due to narrowing of the bronchial passageway, this results in a build-up of mucus in the bronchial tubes leading to difficulty breathing (Rizzo 2016, p.423). Airflow in the alveoli becomes limited due to inflammation causing bronchoconstriction, as the inflammatory process begins mast cells degranulate and release inflammatory mediators (Kaufman 2012, pp.589-590). ‘The inflammatory process results in vascular congestion, production of thick mucus, bronchial muscle spasm and thickening of the airway walls’ resulting in Jessica becoming short of breath and coughing (Kaufman 2012, pp.589-590). Typically, this reaction occurs 30 to 60 minutes after being exposed to the triggering allergen or irritant (Kaufman 2012, pp.589-590). Asthma can be triggered by a range of different factors including exercise, infection, exposure to allergens or airborne substances such as dust, fumes or pollen (Rizzo 2016, p.843). However, some asthma attacks may be worse than others, this is because a severe asthma attack can completely narrow and close the airway (Lew 2011, pp.43-45). This can result in oxygen not getting to vital organs such as the heart or brain and can result in

Asthma is one of the most prevalent respiratory diseases. It is a chronic condition with recurring, exacerbations characterized by bronchial hyper-responsiveness and inflammation leading to airflow obstruction (Cabana, et al., 2014). Over time, the chronic inflammation may cause permanent damage to the airway (Wenzel, 2012). Asthma affects people of all ages but typically begins in childhood (Wenzel, 2012). This paper will explore the pathophysiological mechanisms of chronic asthma and acute asthma exacerbation. Additionally, it will cover how age and behavior can impact the pathophysiology and influence the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Finally, mind maps will illustrate, visually, the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis and treatment of both the chronic and acute phase of asthma.

History of Present Illness: Ms. Johnson is a very pleasant 66-year-old woman who was previously evaluated in this office by Elvira Aguila, MD for the diagnosis of asthma. She was last seen in January 2015. She states that overall, she has done well. However, over the last two to three weeks, she has noticed increasing shortness of breath as well as productive cough, rhinorrhea and postnasal drip. She states that she has been using her rescue inhaler above and beyond what is normal for her up to 10 times a day yesterday and she states that she has had some improvement in her symptoms with her short acting bronchodilator. She denies any fevers or chills.

The pathophysiology of Asthma includes inflammation of the airway. The way in which this works is from an irritant which can include dust, pollen, cedar, or cat hair. When a reaction occurs, the airways become inflamed and narrow. The narrowing occurs because once the inflammatory response is triggered by an irritant, histamines, immunoglobulin E antibodies, and leukotrienes are released. Because of this, mucous production occurs. Since the bronchioles are inflamed and narrow, breathing becomes difficult. Wheezing sounds can be heard due to the lack of air being able to easily move in and out of the narrowed bronchioles.

Therefore, assessing patients at risk for future asthma exacerbation is important. Since the long-term observational evidence in Asia regarding assessment of risk factors for fatal asthma is relatively limited, the aim of this study is to identify factors which are related to fatal asthma so that patients with high risks can be identified and be given appropriate intervention.Patients who had more than one asthma-associated hospitalization in the prior year, comorbidities such as septicemia, pneumonia, genitourinary disease, arrhythmia, diabetes mellitus and medical treatment with high dose of OCS increased the risk of fatal asthma

Not only is December my favorite month after November, December was also where it all began. I had been feeling hot and my throat started to swell and so I was pick up from work early and rushed to the hospital. Apparently I only had a strep throat but a fever of 101. I couldn't go to work because I couldn't risk the kids to strep and plus I completely lost my voice. I finally felt better and was over the strep, when a few days later I started coughing. At first like everyone thinks I though I had the common cold or flu because it was now January but of course it wasn't. I had spent the first two weeks of january coughing and hardly breathing. Thanks to Nurse Carr she had a listen to my lungs and found out that I had full wedge wheezing in all four quadrants of my lungs. That day my sister Nicole picked me up early from school and took me to the hospital. In the hospital I was told that I was having bronchial spasms which cause me to cough and have the wheezing. I was put on medication and it did nothing because my symptoms had worsen. Again Nurse Carr had a listen to my lungs and had me sent home for wheezing and light headedness. Nicole took me to the same hospital and they said that my asthma had returned and I was just experiencing asthma. At this point I didn't have bronchial spasms I had asthma. I was given more medication and I was good for about the last two weeks of january. “Hello darkness my old friend” the wheezing had returned along with the coughing. At this