According to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, few children with cystic fibrosis lived to attend elementary school in the 1950s.
Cystic fibrosis is a lifelong disease that is genetic in nature. It is a condition where the body secretes thick tenacious mucus. The lungs are affected by cystic fibrosis because they are clogged with thick mucus which affects a child's ability to breathe. A nursing diagnosis for this problem is: ineffective airway clearance related to thick secretions in the lungs or airways. The goal of care for this nursing diagnosis is to assist the affected child cough out the mucus in his lungs so that he can breathe more clearly. Some nursing interventions for cystic fibrosis can help the nurse reach this goal.
Instructions
1. Assess the child's respiratory system. Listen to the child's lungs for breath sounds with your stethoscope. Take note of sounds that indicate clogged lungs such as crackles. Observe the child's breathing pattern and effort and count his respiratory rate. Do this to gather information that will be compared to information collected after your nursing interventions. It will help determine if your nursing interventions are effective or not.
2. Administer nebulizer treatment as prescribed by the child's physician. They help loosen up the mucus in the lungs, make them less tenacious and thinner for easy expectoration. Sit the child up before administering this treatment to enable him to inhale as much of the medication as possible. Give the nebulizer treatment for cystic fibrosis one hour before or two hours after meals as this treatment often precipitates vomiting or coughing which facilitates removal of mucus from the lungs.
3. Administer the flutter device--a hand-held device that the child breathes into--or other airway clearance system. Give the flutter device to the child and ask him to seal his lips around the mouthpiece. Next, instruct him to inhale through his nose and then exhale through his mouth and into the flutter device as forcefully as he can. Exhalation into the flutter device vibrates the airways, loosens up secretions or mucus in the lungs and facilitates movement of mucus upwards where it can be easily coughed out.
4. Make sure the child is hydrated. Give the child fluids as prescribed by his physician to help thin and loosen the mucus in his lungs. This makes the mucus easier to expectorate or cough out.
5. Reassess the child. Listen to the child's lungs and assess his respiratory efforts to gauge the effectiveness of your nursing interventions. Your interventions are successful if the child coughs up mucus from his lungs and if his breath sounds are clearer than they were before he received treatments.
Tags: mucus lungs, cystic fibrosis, nursing interventions, flutter device, your nursing