With each drag and puff of smoke its cold steely hands grips the willing victim who will find it difficult to escape addiction’s powerful grasp. Of particular interest for the respiratory therapist is the addiction to nicotine. It is important for the healthcare worker to know how this addiction can occur, because tobacco use is associated with a variety of pulmonary diseases. One such disease is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. The prevalence of addiction to drugs, such as nicotine, and their relationship to COPD makes it all the more important for the respiratory therapist to understand addiction and to educate patients on the need for smoking cessation.
To begin, it is known that there are two forms of addiction, which are …show more content…
About 90% of those with the disease are addicted to nicotine and are smokers (Cope, 2014). The disease is overall defined as one that is fully preventable and involves the limitation of airflow that is not completely reversible; it actually becomes worse over time, and is associated with the lung’s response to noxious particles and gases such as cigarette smoke (Kacmarek, et al., 2013). Another definition given by the American Thoracic Society illustrates that COPD is actually the combination of chronic bronchitis and emphysema (Kacmarek, et al., 2013). This means that in COPD, airway obstruction can occur because of both an impeded ability for mucus clearance or because of loss of elasticity in the alveoli and the …show more content…
A lack of patient competence concerning their disease, smoking’s influence on it, and the resources for quitting and preventing relapse is a major impediment towards smoking cessation (COPE, 2014). Research has found that the the healthcare worker is in a prime position to educate and assist patients who wish to quit smoking, but special care should be taken to avoid confrontational methods, opting for motivational interviewing techniques instead (Littrell, 2011). This approach involves getting the patient to initiate a want for change for themselves rather than having someone tell them that they need to change. People are naturally resistant to change and will rationalize many reasons as to why they should not or cannot do
To begin, it is known that there are two forms of addiction, which are …show more content…
About 90% of those with the disease are addicted to nicotine and are smokers (Cope, 2014). The disease is overall defined as one that is fully preventable and involves the limitation of airflow that is not completely reversible; it actually becomes worse over time, and is associated with the lung’s response to noxious particles and gases such as cigarette smoke (Kacmarek, et al., 2013). Another definition given by the American Thoracic Society illustrates that COPD is actually the combination of chronic bronchitis and emphysema (Kacmarek, et al., 2013). This means that in COPD, airway obstruction can occur because of both an impeded ability for mucus clearance or because of loss of elasticity in the alveoli and the …show more content…
A lack of patient competence concerning their disease, smoking’s influence on it, and the resources for quitting and preventing relapse is a major impediment towards smoking cessation (COPE, 2014). Research has found that the the healthcare worker is in a prime position to educate and assist patients who wish to quit smoking, but special care should be taken to avoid confrontational methods, opting for motivational interviewing techniques instead (Littrell, 2011). This approach involves getting the patient to initiate a want for change for themselves rather than having someone tell them that they need to change. People are naturally resistant to change and will rationalize many reasons as to why they should not or cannot do