Symptom Management Case Study To Dyspnea At The End Of Life

Symptom Management Case Study The purpose of this assignment is to allow the student to devise and evaluate a plan of care relating to dyspnea at the end of life. Students will use critical thinking and information from the course text book and other professional literature sources to support this discussion. The patient discussed in this case study is J.J., a 55 year old married man with a history of smoking, which started when he was 15, and stopped at age 40. J.J. was also previously employed at the ship yard. He presented initially with a cough that would not go away with increasing sputum, and it did not resolve after a few months. He received a Chest X-ray and pulmonary function test that showed forced expiratory volume in one second, …show more content…
and his family about his care. The medication management is a great place to start, because he now has insurance, and that is one less worry for him. The oxygen should be continued, especially since he has dyspnea and anxiety attacks from worrying about this, and it is a key treatment for COPD. In addition to this, Morphine sulfate, Steroids, Bronchodilators, Mucolytics, Diuretics, and Anxiolytics can be given for the progression of COPD, and the symptoms that accompany this disease (Matzo & Sherman, 2015, pp. 338-339). These medications can be used to decrease inflammation and exacerbations, as well as decrease the anxiety he experiences. It is also important for him to cluster his activities, take frequent naps, and not overexert …show more content…
is very sound, but he is still very nervous about his dyspnea, which is common for COPD patients. The home health nurse can help by validating his fear, and letting him and his family know this is a common fright, and there are some ways to assist in making him more comfortable, and hopefully decrease his anxiety. To begin with, the importance of the oxygen use should be addressed with the patient and family. It can help to decrease acute exacerbation of his dyspnea. But there are also other things that can be done in the environment to help him and his family have more of a feeling of control. Some things that can be done include frequent resting in a cool environment with the head elevated; guided imagery of a safe place for the patient can relax them; massage can help promote sleep; frequent reassurance and presence can help decrease anxiety; and as an aid with these, Anxiolytics can be used to help decrease the anxious feelings of the patient (Matzo & Sherman, 2015, pp. 338-340). It is important to include alternative therapies along with conventional ones to the plan of care for this patient, in order to decrease the anxiety and helpless