Management Of End-Stage Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease
Explain how the findings from the article may be applied to the steps of the nursing process…………………………….. 10
In the nursing professional, the patient must be the main character thus he or she ought to be granted all the attention. The outcome of the patients should be the main concern of the nurse. The nursing process has five major steps which include assessment, diagnosis, development or planning, implementation and finally evaluation. The assessment step entails conducting a review of the patient’s whole body and listening to his or her comments regarding health status. In reference to the article, patients with end-stage chronic obstruction disease need critical assessment since studies reveal that some of them are unaware of the fact that they might be living with the illness (Barnett, 2008).
According to the article, studies conducted in the United Kingdom indicate that nearly nine hundred thousand people have been diagnosed with chronic obstruction pulmonary disease and half as many are thought to be living with it. This disease has not been taken seriously the way other fatal illnesses such as cancer have been the center of attention yet it contributes to the high mortality rate in the world. With such knowledge, it would be important that nurses diagnosing patients be very keen with the exercise to avoid cases of wrong analysis. Careful assessment will again bring to light the impact of the disease.
The second step concerns itself with diagnosis where the nurse formulates a finding for each of the problems that the patient might be encountering. Patients with end-stage chronic obstruction disease might be having more than one problem to address since according to the article there is no cure for this illness. The third step in the nursing process is planning where objectives will be set to improve the well being of the patient (Carpenito-Moyet,2007). In the article patients with chronic obstruction disease need maximum care to ensure that optimum symptom control is achieved. The patients can be directed on what to improve in order to prolong their lives.
Implementation is the fourth step which entails delegating responsibilities. According to the article, patients with end-stage chronic obstruction disease need to be communicated to about end life needs and only a professional can achieve this. It is not an easy task to inform a patient or any one for that matter that his or her days are numbered in this world. The last step in the nursing process is evaluation where the success of the current objectives will be analyzed. There is need to judge whether the care given to patients with end-stage chronic obstruction disease is producing any positive results.
Describe how the nursing research findings may be utilized by nursing students and practicing nurses…………………. 6
The research findings in this article can be utilized by student and practicing nurses in several ways. First and foremost the findings will enable the student and practicing nurses to realize that the health of the patient is supposed to be a priority. The student and practicing nurses will internalize the steps followed when caring for a patient with end-stage chronic obstruction disease and apply them to other patients suffering from terminal illness. The communication skills described in the article are very significant to nursing students since they broaden their minds and prepare them fully when it comes to tackling such situations.
The knowledge in this article will again provide the students and practicing nurses with the skill to formulate changes in accordance with the patients changing state. The student nurses will therefore know how to deal with the changes in the condition of the patient. The student nurses will also gain from the experience described in the article hence they will be able to perfect their skill in a practical environment. According to Barnett, there has been little research towards care for non- malignant diseases hence this will act as a breakthrough for the student nurses.
Identify the caritas processes and universal needs implied in your research article (use specific examples from the study to support) ………….. 4
The caritas processes and universal needs implied in this article integrate physical, psychological and spiritual aspects. Practitioners attending to patients with end-stage chronic obstruction disease need to develop good communication skills and a working relationship with the members of the multidisciplinary team together with the patient. Appropriate communication skills and care are necessary to ensure that effective treatment is provided to the patient. Understanding what the patient is experiencing and identifying non-verbal cues is also significant. Incase the patient has reached the end stage, it is important that end life needs be discussed in steps.
Describe the population sample in the study. Do you think the results could be applied to other patient populations? Why or why no? ……….. 6
The population in this study was general in the sense that it did not focus on a specific age group or gender and data was collected on a random basis. The only fact is that chronic obstruction disease is caused mostly by smoking hence the results could be applied to other patient populations (Stockley, 2007).This is because age or gender has little influence on smoking habits. This therefore means that any individual as long as he or she smokes is at risk of contracting this chronic illness. Millions of people have been reported to suffer from this disease and it hinders patients from being productive society members.
Do you think the nursing community is aware of these research findings? Why or why not? If yes, give examples of what you have seen in practice to support your response…………………………………………………….. 4
The nursing community has little awareness regarding the findings in this article. This is because the increase of keeping patients alive is not uniform across the world. Greater differences exist between and within nations (Jones (Prof.), 2004).This is prevalent especially in those nations or ethnic groups that experience low socio economic conditions in the sense that patients with chronic illness sometimes do not afford hospital costs thus they just stay at home. In such regions nurses are not exposed to such cases. Lack of exposure denies them the opportunity to gain knowledge on such chronic diseases hence they are normally not aware about them. Only a small percentage of nurses in developed nations are aware of such research findings.
Identify the ethical issues implied or expressed in your research article?………. 4
It is true that ethics plays a significant role in crucial care patients. In this article, the ethical issues implied have to do with end of life matters since the disease in question has been claimed to have no cure. This means that the best way to deal with the disease it to take preventative measures. In the case of end-stage chronic obstruction disease, the patient’s wishes ought to be respected hence it is their right to decide whether they want their life sustained or not. The hospital staff provides all choices to the patients and their families hence no decision can be made without being fully informed.
With reference to the article, it is clear for instance; those patients with end-stage chronic obstruction disease have a right to decide whether they wish to stay at home until the end. Therefore to avoid violating ethics, most decisions must be made out of consent of the patient and this provides the hospital with a structure to follow when administering treatment (Curtis, 2010).If the patient is unable to make his own decision, for instant if he or she is a minor, medical ethics require that the parents or guardians make that important choice. Another ethical issue implied in this article is non-compliance by the patient.
In such a case where the patient is suffering from chronic obstruction disease, the article informs readers, one indication that the end-stage of the illness is approaching is repeated admissions to hospital. In such a case it is clear that a lot of finances are used and the patient may be moved from one hospital to the next. The patient may find it hard to pay for the repeated admissions hence tax payers money is used to cater for the bill. If the practitioners learn that the health problems are self induced, they may fail to provide quality treatment to the patient. This in turn results into dilemmas.
Describe how you could test the researcher’s findings on your own clinical population this semester. How would you design your study? How would you measure your results? Be specific…………………………. 6
In testing the researcher’s findings using my own clinical population I will first and foremost specify the age of my subjects which will range between thirty five to sixty five years. The study design will be experimental and the main purpose of my research will be to identity the factors that are related to onset and course of chronic obstruction disease. This study will be population based and it will be used to identify risk factors in this age group. I will call for the enrollment of nearly two thousand men and women in four communities namely California, Texas, Maryland and Pittsburgh.
Qualified participants will then be sampled in each region. In measuring the results, extensive laboratory testing and evaluation will be conducted to identify the presence of risk factors such as cigarette smoking, age, gender, ethnic background and genetic factors. A second comprehensive examination will be conducted after three years. This is for the sole purpose of ensuring that incidents of bias do not occur and accurate results are obtained. It is necessary that I obtain all possible explanations for results before making a conclusion since research is geared towards explaining the phenomenon’s of the world.
Reference
Barnett,M.(2008).Management of end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease .British Journal of Nursing, Vol 17, No 22
Jones (Prof.),R.(2004).Oxford textbook of primary medical care, Volume 1.New York: Oxford University Press
Carpenito-Moyet,J.(2007).Understanding the nursing process: concept mapping and care planning for … New York:Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Benjamin,M & Curtis,J.(2010).Ethics in Nursing:
Cases, Principles, and Reasoning. New York: Oxford University Press
Stockley,R.(2007).Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. London: Wiley-Blackwell
