NURSING MANAGEMENT

Oxygen therapy
Oxygen therapy is the administration of oxygen as a medical intervention, which can be for a
variety of purposes in both chronic and acute patient care. Oxygen is essential for cell metabolism, and in
turn, tissue oxygenation is essential for all normal physiological functions. High blood and tissue levels of
oxygen can be helpful or damaging, depending on circumstances and oxygen therapy should be used to
benefit the patient by increasing the supply of oxygen to the lungs and thereby increasing the availability
of oxygen to the body tissues, especially when the patient is suffering from hypoxia and/or hypoxemia.
The nasal cannula (NC) is a device used to deliver supplemental oxygen or airflow to a patient
or person in need of respiratory help. This device consists of a plastic tube which fits behind the ears, and
a set of two prongs which are placed in the nostrils. Oxygen flows from these prongs. The nasal cannula
is connected to an oxygen tank, a portable oxygen generator, or a wall connection in a hospital via a flow
meter. The nasal cannula carries 15 liters of oxygen per minute. There are also infant or neonatal nasal
cannulas which carry less than one liter per minute; these also have smaller prongs. The oxygen fraction
provided to the patient ranges roughly from 24% to 35%, or the cannula may merely supply humidified
air.
Nebulizer Therapy
Nebulizers use oxygen, compressed air or ultrasonic power to break up medical solutions and
suspensions into small aerosol droplets that can be directly inhaled from the mouthpiece of the device.
The definition of an aerosol is a "mixture of gas and liquid particles," and the best example of a naturally
occurring aerosol is mist, formed when small vaporized water particles mixed with hot ambient air are
cooled down and condense into a fine cloud of visible airborne water droplets. When using a nebulizer for
inhalation therapy with medication to be administered directly to the lungs, inhaled aerosol droplets can
only penetrate into the narrow branches of the lower airways if they have a small diameter of 15
micrometers. Otherwise they are only absorbed by the mouth cavity, where the effect is low.
Interventions
1. The efficacies of aerosol therapy, what type of fluids to use, the types of drugs that can be
delivered, and the effectiveness of therapy, havent been established.
2. Monitor for over hydration, especially in the patient with a delicate fluid balance.
3. Carefully monitor for adequate flow if oxygen is being delivered at the same time.
4. Encourage the patient to take slow, even breaths to derive maximum benefit.
Vital Signs Monitoring- Maintain temperature within the normal range.
axillary temperature should be between 36.5-37C and skin temperature between 36-36.5C.
Respiratory Rate and Heart Rate- Monitoring both RR and HR continuously as possible.