Pulmonology

The total lung capacity refers to the maximum amount of air a person’s lungs can hold (wisegeek.org, 2014). Breathing occurs in a cyclic manner due to the movements of the chest wall and the lungs. The resulting changes in pressure, causing changes in lung volume and lung capacity (humanphysiology.hubpages.com, 2014). An average human’s lung capacity can hold 4-6 liters, but only ⅓ of your lung capacity is used during normal activity, but this fraction increases during strenuous activity when…

Introduction Heart and lung work hand to hand daily, nonstop until we die. Some people may have experienced heart surgery because of many reasons. Some reasons for cardiac surgery is tumor, heart attack, blood clot in the heart, etc. After the surgery, there is a recovery process and the heart may not even fully heal for some patients. Since the heart may not be able to work optimally, respiration system of the patients may also be affected (Westerdahl et al, 2016). The surgery process itself…

Description of the incident During the clinical day on the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) care was provided for a patient with respiratory problem. He had a history of Hypertension, Coronary artery disease, Gastroesophageal reflux disease, Diabetes Mellitus, Hyperlipidemia and was a smoker and consumer of alcohol but reported to have quit 5 years ago. The patient had come in with a chief complaint of shortness of breath. Upon evaluation through chest x-ray and cultures, the patient revealed to have…

The heart-lung machine, or pump oxygenator, invented by John Gibbon in the early 1950s, had opened the era of modern heart surgery for coronary artery disease (Buxton & Galvin, 2013). It significantly increased the survival rate and quality of life of patient suffering from coronary artery disease (CAD); however, the higher complication rate caused by the heart-lung pump machine, such as the neurocognitive impairment, the systematic inflammation, the long recovery time, and the high operation…

Tests for COPD include; Spirometry, Bronchodilator Reversibility, Chest X-ray, Computed Tomography, and Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency Testing.  Spirometry helps tell how well your lungs are working. During this test, the patient will sit down and into a spirometer which evaluates how much is breathed in and out over the course of a minute and how much air is left in your lungs.  Bronchodilator Reversibility test is the same as the spirometry test except the patient is given a bronchodilator,…

Some of the nursing diagnosis based on the above assessment can be listed below: A. Ineffective airway clearance related to excessive secretions B. Ineffective breathing pattern related to decreased lung expansion C. Risk for aspiration D. Disturbed sleeping pattern related to fragmented sleep E. Deficient knowledge related to lack of exposure to previous knowledge 1. Nursing diagnosis: Ineffective airway clearance related to excessive secretions Defining characteristics • Tachypnea, dyspnea •…

D.J. is a 77 year-old African-American male patient who was transferred from the MICU to the CCU unit after experiencing respiratory distress. He had been admitted for moderate dehydration. The previous nurse reported that the patient’s breathing had become rapid and labored with the usage of accessory muscles. Also, reporting that his body temperature was extremely low and that his heart rate would not decrease below 200. My preceptor and I performed a head-to-toe assessment and noticed that…

A pneumothorax is when air is present in the pleural space which results in a partial or complete collapse of a lung (Crimlisk, 2010). There are three classifications of a pneumothorax which include open, closed, and tension. An open pneumothorax occurs when an opening in the chest wall allows air to enter into the pleural space which occurs from chest traumas like stabbings and gun shots, or surgical thoracotomies (Crimlisk, 2010). A closed pneumothorax is when air accumulates in the pleural…

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is a disease that affects the respiratory system. It is a progressive disease, which means that it gets worse as time passes ("What Is COPD?"). Although there are different types of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, the common similarity in the disease is increasing breathlessness. The main symptoms are an increases of breathlessness, frequent coughing, wheezing and tightness in the chest. One major issue is that when people age they assume that the…

Pulmonary Physiology and Disorders One of the main purposes of respiration is gas exchange. The physiological definition of respiration differs from the biochemistry definition of respiration. Physiology defines respiration as movement of air, more specifically oxygen, from the environment to the cells in the body. Biochemistry defines respiration as the metabolic process by which cells utilize glucose and oxygen to produce Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP). Inspiration, which is an active part of…