Assessment and examination of the respiratory system.

This article aims to outline the fundamental principles of consultations with and clinical assessments of patients with symptoms that may be indicative of respiratory system pathology. The article explores how to perform a respiratory system-focused patient history and physical examination. An evaluation of clinical 'red flags' to reduce the risk of omitting serious illness is also considered, alongside the exploration of features of respiratory pathology and evidence-based clinical decision-making tools that may be used to support clinical diagnosis.

Palliative care for chronic respiratory disease: integrated care in outpatient settings.

Chronic respiratory diseases are progressive and often life-limiting illnesses. Patients experience debilitating and troubling symptoms that impact on their quality of life. Despite this, there is under-recognition of patients who may be entering the final year of their life and require palliative care services. The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust in partnership with Compton Care has established chronic respiratory disease multidisciplinary team meetings and a combined respiratory and palliative care outpatient clinic to address these issues. This article presents the impact of this service, now in to its fourth year, of delivering palliative care services to patients with chronic respiratory disease.

A nurse-led critical care outreach program to reduce readmission to the intensive care unit: A quasi-experimental study with a historical control group.

INTRODUCTION: Various critical care outreach services have been developed and evaluated worldwide; however, the conflicting findings indicate the need to strengthen the outreach service research. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a nurse-led critical care follow-up program on intensive care unit (ICU) readmission and hospital mortality in patients with respiratory problems discharged from the ICU in Hong Kong. METHODS: A quasi-experimental study design, with a historical control and a prospective intervention for 13 months, was used. The intervention group received a nurse-led, multidisciplinary ICU follow-up program in addition to the usual care. The outcome measures included ICU readmission within 72 h after ICU discharge, all ICU readmission (ICU readmission irrespective of the time frame after ICU discharge), hospital mortality, and 90-day mortality rate. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the predictors for ICU readmission within 72 h. RESULTS: A total of 369 participants (the intervention group: 185; the control group: 184) were recruited. A significant reduction in ICU readmission within 72 h was observed in the intervention group compared to the control group (p = 0.001), even after controlling for confounders (odds ratio: 0.158, p = 0.007). The intervention group also demonstrated a significant reduction in all ICU readmission (p < 0.001) and hospital mortality (p = 0.042), but not on 90-day mortality (p = 0.081), when compared with the control group. This nurse-led ICU follow-up program was shown to be cost-effective, saving an estimated US$ 145,614 for a period of 13 months. CONCLUSION: The findings demonstrated that a nurse-led multidisciplinary ICU follow-up program was a beneficial and cost-saving strategy to avert ICU readmission in patients with respiratory problems after ICU discharge. It also highlighted the competent role of ICU nurses in planning and leading the implementation of a multidisciplinary program. The results contributed to the database of an innovative follow-up program to inform the practice worldwide.

The experience of palliative care service provision for people with non-malignant respiratory disease and their family carers: An all-Ireland qualitative study.

AIM: To explore specialist and generalist palliative care provision for people with non-malignant respiratory disease, in rural and urban areas in the North and Republic of Ireland. BACKGROUND: Globally, palliative care is recommended as an appropriate healthcare option for people with advanced non-malignant lung disease. Yet, there is limited evidence regarding the integration of palliative care for this client group. DESIGN: Qualitative study. METHODS: Convenience sample of 17 bereaved carers and 18 healthcare professionals recruited from two rural and two urban sites on the Island of Ireland. Data were collected throughout 2012 and 2013 through semi-structured interviews with carers of patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (N = 12), interstitial lung disease (N = 4) or bronchiectasis (N = 1) who had died 3-18 months previously; and four focus groups with healthcare professionals. Data were analysed using a thematic analysis framework. RESULTS: Carers' interviews yielded three overarching themes: (1) lack of preparedness for death, due to ambiguity regarding disease trajectory; (2) lack of consistency in palliative care delivery, in relation with the receipt of generalist and specialist palliative care; and (3) role ambiguity, related to their caregiving role. Focus groups identified two overarching themes: (1) barriers to appropriate palliative care; and (2) the future direction of palliative care for patient with non-malignant respiratory disease. CONCLUSION: The uncertain disease trajectory was not only experienced by carers but also healthcare professionals. Although referral to specialist palliative care services was perceived as increasing, the availability and coordination of generalist and specialist palliative care services were fragmented and varied dependent on geographical location.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of the accuracy of clinical indicators for ineffective airway clearance.

AIM: To report quantitative evidence for the accuracy of the defining characteristics of ineffective airway clearance in different settings and populations. BACKGROUND: Defining characteristics are tests used by nurses to clinically indicate the presence or absence of a particular nursing diagnosis. A few studies have reported the accuracy of certain defining characteristics of ineffective airway clearance, but these studies address specific populations with particular needs. DESIGN: A systematic review with meta-analysis was conducted to provide a synthesis and critical appraisal of the included studies. DATA SOURCES: The electronic databases CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus and LILACS were searched using a systematic search strategy for studies published in any year. The last search was performed on 31 July 2013. REVIEW METHODS: Using the recommendations from Cochrane Collaboration for Systematic Reviews of Diagnostic Test Accuracy and the Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy (STARD), a systematic review was conducted using studies investigating the presence of ineffective airway clearance and its defining characteristics. The Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS) tool was used to evaluate the quality of the studies. RESULTS: Seven papers met the search criteria. The studies were developed in different clinical settings and most of them fulfilled QUADAS criteria. Summary measures indicated the following defining characteristics with higher accuracy values: adventitious breath sounds, changes in respiratory rate, difficult vocalizing, diminished breath sounds, dyspnoea, ineffective cough, orthopnoea and restlessness. CONCLUSION: This systematic review showed that the variability in clinical indicators of ineffective airway clearance is related to differences in the clinical settings and patients.

An exploration of how nurse prescribing is being used for patients with respiratory conditions across the east of England.

BACKGROUND: There is a need to reduce symptoms, exacerbations and improve quality of life for patients with respiratory diseases. Across the world, increasing numbers of nurses are adopting the prescribing role and can potentially enhance service provision. Evidence suggests improved quality of care and efficiencies occur when nurses adopt the prescribing role. No evidence is available on the views of nurse prescribers who care for respiratory patients. The aim was to explore how nurse prescribing is being used for patients with respiratory conditions in different care settings across one strategic health authority, and whether this has benefited patients, healthcare professionals and the National Health Service. METHODS: A qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 40 nurses who prescribed for respiratory patients across the six counties in the East of England Strategic Health Authority. Data were collected in 2011 and subject to thematic analysis. RESULTS: Disease management, including treatment and prevention of exacerbations, emergency episodes and minor illness, optimising and co-ordinating care were key aspects of care provided. Findings are reported under three themes: access, adherence and risk management and impact on nurses. Prescribing enabled nurses overcome existing problems in service provision to improve access, efficiency and patient convenience, reducing hospital admissions and length of stay. It also enabled patient centered consultations, which encouraged self-management, improved adherence, helped manage expectations, and reduced inappropriate service use. While participants experienced increased job satisfaction, knowledge and confidence, concerns were raised about increased responsibility, support, governance and future commissioning of services in line with planned major changes to the National Health Service. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides new knowledge about how nurse prescribers provide care to patients with respiratory diseases. Despite a lack of consensus over the most effective model of respiratory care, prescribing was reported to have improved and extended points of access to treatment, and supported management of complex patients, particularly vulnerable groups. Given the high burden of chronic respiratory disease to patients and families this has important implications that need to be considered by those responsible for commissioning services in the United Kingdom and other countries.

The experiences of palliative care health service provision for people with non-malignant respiratory disease and their caregivers: an all-Ireland study.

AIM: To explore the perception of palliative care provision for people with non-malignant respiratory disease from the perspective of bereaved caregivers. BACKGROUND: It is recognized that the majority of patients diagnosed with a malignant disease will have access to palliative care provision. However, it is less clear if the same standards of palliative care are available to those with non-malignant respiratory disease in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. DESIGN: A qualitative study based on broad interpretivism. METHODS: This research is a PhD study funded by the Department of Education and Learning in Northern Ireland (awarded February 2011). Data collection will consist of two stages; interviews with 20 bereaved caregivers of people who have died 3-18 months previously with a diagnosis of non-malignant respiratory disease and four focus groups with healthcare professionals involved in the care of this client group. This study will be carried out at four healthcare sites across the Island of Ireland. The data will be analysed using thematic content analysis. Research Ethics committee approval was obtained (March 2012). DISCUSSION: This research will explore the experiences of patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Interstitial Lung Disease and Bronchiectasis and their caregivers from the perspective of the bereaved caregiver. The outcomes of this study will provide a critical first step in the development of more responsive palliative care for this client group and have important implications for future practice and policy in the palliative care provided to this client group.

Nursing diagnoses and hospital readmission of patients with respiratory diseases: Findings from a case-control study.

AIM: The rate of readmission after hospitalisation for respiratory diseases has become a common and challenging clinical problem. Social and functional patient variables could help identify cases at high risk of readmission. The aim was to identify the nursing diagnoses that were associated with readmission after hospitalisation for respiratory disease in Spain. DESIGN: Case-control study within the cohort of patients admitted for respiratory disease during 2016-19 in a tertiary public hospital in Spain (n = 3781). METHODS: Cases were patients who were readmitted within the first 30 days of discharge, and their controls were the remaining patients. All nursing diagnoses (n = 130) were collected from the electronic health record. They were then grouped into 29 informative diagnostic categories. Clinical confounder-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated using logistic regression models. RESULTS: The readmission rate was 13.1%. The nursing diagnoses categories 'knowledge deficit' (OR: 1.61; 95%CI: 1.13-2.31), 'impaired skin integrity and risk of ulcer infection' (OR: 1.45; 95%CI: 1.06-1.97) and 'activity intolerance associated with fatigue' (OR: 1.56; 95%CI: 1.21-2.01) were associated with an increased risk of suffering an episode of hospital readmission rate at 30% after hospital discharge, and this was independent of sociodemographic background, care variables and comorbidity. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: The nursing diagnoses assigned as part of the care plan of patients during hospital admission may be useful for predicting readmissions.

Nursing terminology for the care of people with respiratory diseases and Covid-19.

OBJECTIVES: To build a specialized nursing terminology for the care of people with respiratory diseases and Covid-19 or who have respiratory diseases after Covid-19, based on ICNP®. METHOD: Methodological study developed in two stages: (1) identification of the relevant concepts for the health priority chosen from the literature; (2) cross-mapping of the identified concepts with the concepts contained in ICNP® version 2019/2020. RESULTS: 9460 terms were extracted from the literature, of which 4065 terms were excluded because they were not related to the object of study and 5395 were submitted to the mapping technique, resulting in 290 constant terms in the ICNP® and 5134 non-constant terms. The constant terms were classified into the following axes: 120 in the Focus axis, 13 in Judgment, 48 in Action, 23 in Location, 38 in Means, eight in Time and one in Client. In addition, 36 nursing diagnoses/outcomes and three nursing interventions were mapped. CONCLUSION: The terminology will support the quality of care provided by the nursing team and the manual and electronic recording of patient data.

Analysis of the Nursing Effect of Respiratory Critical Illness Based on Refined Nursing Management.

In order to improve the nursing effect of respiratory critical illness, this paper combines the refined nursing method to explore the nursing plan of respiratory critical illness. Moreover, this paper uses the variable control method to explore the effects of nursing management, combines the hospital patient samples to conduct a controlled trial analysis, and conducts sample grouping according to the random grouping method. The patients in the control group are managed by traditional nursing management methods, the patients in the test group are managed by refined nursing management methods, and other conditions are basically the same. In addition, the experiment process variable control is carried out according to the mathematical statistics method, and the reasonable statistics and data processing are carried out. Through the comparison method, we can see that the refined management method proposed in this paper has a good effect in the nursing of respiratory critical illness.

Pulmonary complications in pregnancy: considerations for care.

Anatomic and physiologic changes of pregnancy predispose the mother to increased morbidity and mortality whereas increasing risks of a less than optimal outcome for the fetus. The frequency and significance of acute and chronic respiratory conditions in pregnant women have increased in recent years. Clinicians must have an understanding of cardiopulmonary physiology to promptly recognize and treat pregnant women with respiratory conditions ranging from asthma to adult respiratory distress syndrome. Hospitals must establish systems to assure timely assessment, multidisciplinary care, and possibly a plan for transfer to a higher level of care to provide highest quality care to the perinatal patient presenting with a severe respiratory condition to promote optimal outcomes for the woman and the fetus.

Palliative care for patients with chronic respiratory disease.

The article provides an overview of the key issues relating to palliative care for patients with chronic respiratory disease. The need for palliative care in this patient group is identified and the illness trajectory considered. Issues of communication, provision of palliative care services and symptom management are discussed and the need for improved services highlighted.

Measurement of quality of life using EQ-5D in patients on prolonged mechanical ventilation: comparison of patients, family caregivers, and nurses.

PURPOSE: This study reports how QOL (quality of life) assessments differ between patients on prolonged mechanical ventilation (PMV) and their proxies (family caregivers and nurses). METHODS: We enrolled consecutive subjects on PMV for more than 21 days from five institutions. We conducted QOL assessments using the Taiwanese version of the EQ-5D in face-to-face interviews. Direct caregivers (family members and nurses) also completed the EQ-5D from the patient's point of view. RESULTS: For 55 of the 142 enrolled patients who were able to assess their QOL, we recruited 44 patient-family caregiver pairs, 53 patient-nurse pairs, and 42 family caregiver-nurse pairs. There were 81 family caregiver-nurse pairs out of 87 patients with poor cognition. The agreement between patient-family caregiver pairs was generally higher than that of patient-nurse pairs. As the proportions of exact agreement between family caregivers and nurses for patients with poor cognition were 98-99% for observable dimensions of mobility, self-care, and usual activities, they lead to a minimal difference in the final values. CONCLUSIONS: QOL assessments from family caregivers agreed more closely with patients than did those from nurses using EQ-5D evaluations for patients with clear cognition, but either proxy was acceptable for rating PMV patients with poor cognition.

Nursing competencies for physical assessment of the respiratory system in Japan.

The purpose of this study was to establish the minimum essential Japanese nursing education health assessment competency levels, with particular emphasis on the respiratory system, from the viewpoint of clinical nurses and nurse educators. The design of this study was a quantitative descriptive study using the Delphi technique. The participants consisted of two groups, including 210 clinical nurses and 76 nurse educators. Questionnaires were sent three times to each group, along with summaries of each previous result. The respondents selected 29 competency items in the following categories: five structure and function items; six interview items; eight inspection items; one palpation item; six auscultation items; and three diagnostic test items. By releasing the results of this survey to nurse educators, it might be possible to improve the nursing curriculum. For clinical nurses, knowing these results will help them to bridge the gap between essential nursing education and clinical practice.

Non-invasive ventilation: a nurse-led service.

Respiratory diseases are the third most common presentations to emergency departments (EDs) in the Republic of Ireland. Evidence suggests that early non-invasive ventilation (NIV) is often the treatment of choice, particularly for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Therefore, having access to NIV in EDs is likely to improve patient outcomes and reduce the likelihood of their mechanical ventilation.