OVERVIEW
Pneumonia is an inflammation of the terminal airways, alveoli and interstitium of the lungs. The main causes of pneumonia are pathogenic microorganisms, physical and chemical factors, immune damage, allergies and drugs, and it is a common and frequent disease of the respiratory system. According to the causes, it can be divided into: bacterial pneumonia, pneumonia caused by atypical pathogens, viral pneumonia, fungal pneumonia, pneumonia caused by other pathogens, and pneumonia caused by physical and chemical factors. Infection is one of the most common causes, and bacterial pneumonia is the most common of them. It occurs in early spring and winter, with male young adults, the elderly, and infants and young children as the main groups of patients. The main clinical symptoms are fever, cough, sputum, purulent sputum and bloody sputum, which may be accompanied by chest pain or dyspnea. Bacterial pneumonia is treated with antibiotics and can be cured in 7 to 10 days. Viral pneumonia is slightly less severe and antibiotic treatment is ineffective. Pneumonia can cause complications such as pulmonary edema, sepsis, infectious shock, and bronchiectasis.
Major Nursing Problems
1. Body temperature is too high.
2. Ineffective airway clearance.
3. Ineffective respiratory pattern.
4. Chest pain.
5. Activity intolerance.
6. Potential complication: infectious shock.
Nursing measures
1. Fever care
High fever should be bed rest, reduce oxygen consumption, available physical cooling measures, or follow the doctor’s instructions to apply drugs to lower the temperature, intravenous replenishment of water and salt lost due to fever, good monitoring, recording temperature changes.
2. Chest pain care
If chest pain is obvious, assist to take the patient’s side lying position, instruct the patient to press the patient’s side lying position with his hand when he breathes deeply and coughs, instruct the patient to local massage or distraction method to relieve the pain, and use painkillers as prescribed by the doctor if necessary.
3. Cough, cough sputum care
Encourage the patient to take a deep breath, assist in turning over and chest percussion, guide effective coughing and promote sputum expulsion. If the sputum is thick and sticky, encourage the patient to drink more water, or give nebulized inhalation.
Health education
1. Patients and their family members should know the causes and triggers of pneumonia, and avoid cold, rain, smoking, alcoholism and excessive fatigue.
2. Due to the low immunity of patients with streptococcal pneumonia and the influence of digestion and absorption after infection, family members should give the patients fluid and semi-liquid diets which are rich in nutrients, less flatulence, non-stimulating and easy to digest, with fewer and more frequent meals, and more fluids, so as to improve the nutritional status.
3. Patients should strengthen physical exercise, pay attention to the combination of work and rest, and correct bad habits in order to enhance physical fitness, and susceptible groups, such as the elderly and weak, chronic diseases, can be vaccinated with influenza vaccine, pneumonia vaccine and so on.
4. Patients should follow the doctor’s instructions to take medication on time, do not stop or reduce the amount of medication.
5. Patients should follow up regularly, and should consult the doctor when they have cough, sputum, dyspnea and other abnormal conditions.