Pneumonia In The Geriatric Pneumonia in the elderly is something that needs to be taken very seriously in this day and age. According to the Center Of Disease Control, statistics say that over 800 million seniors above the age of 65 are at risk for pneumonia. They also say that 1 out of 20 adults that get pneumonia die. What is pneumonia? “Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs that can be caused by fungi, virus, bacteria, and many other germs,” says Dr. Norman Edelman, the chief medical officer for the American Lung Association. What this infection causes is inflammation of the lungs; more specifically, this is inflammation of the alveoli which results in fluid in the alveoli sacs. The alveoli is where the oxygen transfer to the blood takes place, so with the inflammation, it makes it hard for the individual to breath or do any physical activity. This paper will be covering the signs and symptoms to watch for, how to go about getting it diagnosed, treatment and what to expect, preventative measures, different types of causative agents, and if left untreated the type of complications to expect from pneumonia. When you are talking about pneumonia with the elderly, it is not something one wants to take lightly. The signs and symptoms that elderly exhibit can be much different from someone in their mid-ages. The most common symptoms that are related with pneumonia are: malaise or feeling weak, cough, green or yellow sputum, pain in the chest, confusion, fever, chills, and shortness of breath. The most common home diagnoses would be that someone feels as if they have the cold or the flu. With the elderly, these are some of the many reasons why it is so dangerous. The elderly immune system is a lot slower to respond to fight the infe... ... middle of paper ... ...o Pneumonia, it causes respiratory failure. The treatment for this would most likely be ventilator breathing for the patient with supplemental oxygen. (Boothby, L. A. (2004) Pneumonia is a very dangerous infection for the elderly. Any geriatric patient who is susceptible to getting sick should be very careful around the public and should constantly be washing their hands. With signs and symptoms of Pneumonia it is very important to get to the treatment before the infections get worse and the patient needs to be hospitalized. The quicker the better. It could be a life saving measure. In this Informative Essay the following topics have been covered as in, the signs and symptoms to watch for, how to go about getting diagnosed, treatment, preventative measures, different types of causative agents, and if left untreated the type of complications you can acquire.
Hospital-acquired infections (HAI) are preventable and pose a threat to hospitals and patients; increasing the cost, nominally and physically, for both. Pneumonia makes up approximately 15% of all HAI and is the leading cause of nosocomial deaths. Pneumonia is most frequently caused by bacterial microorganisms reaching the lungs by way of aspiration, inhalation or the hematogenous spread of a primary infection. There are two categories of Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia (HAP); Health-Care Associated Pneumonia (HCAP) and Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).
Mrs. Jones, An elderly woman, presented severely short of breath. She required two rest periods in order to ambulate across the room, but refused the use of a wheel chair. She was alert and oriented, but was unable to speak in full sentences. Her skin was pale and dry. Her vital signs were as follows: Temperature 97.3°F, pulse 83, respirations 27, blood pressure 142/86, O2 saturation was 84% on room air. Auscultation of the lungs revealed crackles in the lower lobes and expiratory wheezing. Use of accessory muscles was present. She was put on 2 liters of oxygen via nasal canal. With the oxygen, her O2 saturation increased to 90%. With exertion her O2 saturation dropped to the 80's. Mrs. Jones began coughing and she produced large amounts of milky sputum.
Based on the subjective symptoms, it appears this patient has bronchitis, a type of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which is a respiratory disorder. The care plan will focus on intervention to prevent the disease from re-occurring and causing chronic bronchitis. Further assessment will be needed to obtain a baseline, so when the care plan is implemented, then it can be evaluated to measure positive outcome and where alteration will be need in the plan for a great outcome in the patient’s health.
...spiratory infections. The patient must always be under continuous scrutiny since they can undergo aspiration or lack the ability to change from the passageway to their lungs versus their stomach and their spit travels to the lungs which, in turn, causes bronchopneumonia. The patient also does not have the facility to cough and so must undertake a treatment to shake up their body to eliminate the mucus from the lining of their lungs.
When patients finally seek help, they will usually present with a combination of symptoms such as worsening dyspnea, chronic coughing with sputum production which may or may not include acute chest pain and wheezing (Zab. M. 2014)
COPD is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and is a major cause of disability. Millions of middle aged-adult and older adults are diagnosed with COPD. “Over the past decades chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has become widespread and is now the fourth leading cause of morbidity and mortality on a worldwide basis” (Hellem, Bruugsgaard, & Bergland, 2012, p. 206). This disease is a progressive disease that makes it hard to breathe. As time goes on the symptoms will get worse. Most people with COPD have both emphysema and chronic bronchitis. With emphysema, the walls between many of the air sacs are damaged which reduces the amount of gas exchange in the lungs. With chronic bronchitis, the lining of the airways is constantly irritated and inflamed. This causes the lining to thicken and thick mucus forms in the airways, which makes it hard to breathe.
The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) was used to find peer-reviewed articles, using query terms such as: aspiration pneumonia, ventilator, and prevention. In addition, the TWUniversal search engine was utilized to find peer-reviewed articles, with the key words: aspiration pneumonia, ventilator, and enteral.
Pneumonia can also become a hospital acquired infection. Ventilator-associated pneumonia is a type of lung infection that occurs in a person who has been on a ventilator.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Shoemark, A., Ozerovitch, L. and Wilson, R. 2007. Aetiology in adult patients with bronchiectasis. Epub, 101 (6), pp. 1163-70.
The patient in the case study has been admitted to hospital with an infective exacerbation of his COPD. Respiratory infection causes increased inflammation an...
This problem could be addressed by teaching older adults to be aware of sudden changes in their body, signs and symptoms of pneumonia and when to seek medical care. Nurses should monitor vital signs for abnormal findings, assess for signs of acute change in mental status, decrease appetite, increasing weakness, and a sudden cough. Nurses should also encourage routine physical activity to improve blood circulation and reduce the risk of CAP occurrence. “Altered mental status, a sudden decline in functional capacity, and worsening of underlying diseases may be the only findings of CAP in elderly” (Simonetti et al., 2014, p. 5).
Pneumonia is lung inflammation caused by bacterial or viral infection, in which the air sac may fill up with fluid or pus. The strong internal defenses present in healthy individuals usually protect the body and lungs from these invading bacteria. But when a patient is immunocompromised they lack adequate functioning of these defense mechanisms making them more susceptible for acquiring pneumonia. Some people, such as organ transplant patients, patients taking immunosuppressant drugs, patients with NG tubes, are at increased risk. Other risk factors for pneumonia include smoking, excessive alcohol intake, inability to swallow due to stroke/neuromuscular disease, age over 65, malnourishment, hypoxia, and chronic lung diseases (“Pneumonia”, 2016).
Nursing Diagnosis I for Patient R.M. is ineffective airway clearance related to retained secretions. This is evidenced by a weak unproductive cough and by both objective and subjective data. Objective data includes diagnosis of pneumonia, functional decline, and dyspnea. Subjective data include the patient’s complaints of feeling short of breath, even with assistance with basic ADLs. This is a crucial nursing diagnosis as pneumonia is a serious condition that is the eighth leading cause of death in the United States and the number one cause of death from infectious diseases (Lemon, & Burke, 2011). It is vital to keep the airway clear of the mucus that may be produced from the inflammatory response of pneumonia. This care plan is increasingly important because of R.M.'s state of functional decline; he is unable to perform ADL and to elicit a strong cough by himself due to his slouched posture. Respiratory infections and in this case, pneumonia, will further impair the airway (Lemon, & Burke, 2011). Because of the combination of pneumonia and R.M's other diagnoses of lifelong asthma, it is imperative that the nursing care plan of ineffective airway clearance be carried out. The first goal of this care plan was to have the patient breathe deeply and cough to remove secretions. It is important that the nurse help the patient deep breathe in an upright position; this is the best position for chest expansion, which promotes expansion and ventilation of all lung fields (Sparks and Taylor, 2011). It is also important the nurse teach the patient an easily performed cough technique and help mobilize the patient with ADL's. This helps the patient learn to cough and clear their airways without fatigue (Sparks a...
That was an attention-grabbing, yet disconcerting article. Pneumococcal diseases is an infection caused by Streptococcus pneumonia bacteria also known as "pneumococcus." It an infection of the lungs. It can cause pneumonia. This sickness can lead into additional medical issues such as: sinus or ear infection, meningitis, or blood infection. The symptoms of pneumococcal disease vary on the part of the body that it is affected. Warning sign can include fever, cough, shortness of breath, irritability, chest pain, stiff neck, confusion, sensitivity to light, joint soreness, chills, ear pain and insomnia. Additionally, in severe cases it can produce hearing loss, brain damage, and death. (http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/pneumonia/Pages/Default.aspx)
Knowing the background information of viral pneumonia is vital in treating the disease in premature babies. Two scientists, Hippocrates and Maimonides, discovered pneumonia between 450 B.C. and 380 B.C as well as in the early nineteenth century. Hippocrates discovered pneumonia, but knew very little about it. On the other hand, Maimonides knew more about pneumonia and described it more thoroughly than Hippocrates. He described pneumonia as a disease causing acute fever, sticking pain in the side, short rapid breaths, and jagged pulse and cough (Meeks and Heit 492). “Viral pneumonia occurs more in young children than older adults because the bodies of young children have a harder time fighting off the virus and it is often caused by one of the several viruses: adenovirus, influenza, parainfluenza, and respiratory syncytial virus” (“Viral Pneumonia”). Viral pneumonia develops in children in about five to seven days, but bacterial pneumonia is more severe (McKenzie and et. al. 396). “Pneumonia affects approximately four million individuals each year. It is the most common cause of infectious death in the United States” (Neighbors and Jones 162). Viral pneumonia occ...