Rhonchi

Relearning to breathe
Kaiser’s pulmonary rehabilitation program puts patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on the path to better health by teaching them to breathe as efficiently as possible. People whose breathing is compromised can take a six-week class that includes exercise and education on nutrition, breathing and medication.

Nice story of a successful pulmonary rehab program:

The Advocate – Pulmonary program thrives after 10 years
…Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program, which began 10 years ago under Dr. Paul Sachs, director of pulmonary medicine at Stamford hospital. They celebrated the anniversary of the program to coincide with National Pulmonary Rehabilitation week, March 12-18.

“This program was wonderful,” said Burt, now a great-grandmother. “I still walk every day. I stick to the diet, and I feel wonderful.”

The program draws on specialists in the respiratory, physical therapy, occupational, nutritional and psychological fields, Sachs said. Patients learn to manage all aspects of living with such chronic lung diseases as asthma, bronchitis and emphysema.

“You’re working with the whole body,” said Joan Fowler, 75. “You learn how to accept what’s going on with your body and you realize, ‘I’m not the only one like this.’ “

Centre Daily Times | 02/13/2006 | Pulmonary rehab brings hope to sufferers of lung disease
Ever increasing de-conditioning results in more shortness of breath, and so the vicious cycle continues. A comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation program provides an educational forum about COPD, as well as supervised exercise under the watchful eye of a respiratory therapist and psychosocial support. This intervention has been shown to reduce the sense of breathlessness described by COPD patients, thus allowing them to increase their activity level.

Pulmonary rehabilitation has been shown to reduce the number of hospitalizations associated with exacerbation. It probably does not prolong the lives of patients with COPD, but it certainly improves their quality of life.

An ad on the Super Bowl for asthmacontrol.com : watch it here:Jerome Bettis: Asthma Control Test – Google Video
Informaton about this ads: Produced by Advair for GlaxoSmithKline.

Asthma doesn’t stop The Bus, and it doesn’t have to stop you. Take the Asthma Control Test (TM) and share your results with your doctor. Take the Asthma Control Test and know your asthma score. The American Lung Association supports the Asthma Control Test and wants everyone 12 years of age and older with asthma to take it, no matter how well controlled you think your asthma is. This commercial aired during the 2006 Super Bowl.

This month, Kids Discover covers “Lungs!”

Sample text:

“They’re squishy like sponges and stretchy like balloons. You use them every day – and night, too – no matter what you’re doing. And, most likely, you never even think about them. They’re you’re lungs – those elastic bags with millions of tiny air pouches inside. All day long, those sacs in your chest fill and empty with the breath that feeds your body the oxygen it needs to stay alive. But, breathing isn’t the only way these pouches help you be you.”

via missewon

Help for Seniors on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Posted on Web

The Website produced by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to provide useful information on health specifically for seniors citizens continues to increase its content. Today, NIHSeniorHealth.gov adds information about the diagnosis and treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S.

Here’s the page: http://nihseniorhealth.gov/copd/toc.html

I also like the ability to change the text size and contrast of the page, and also to print all or parts of the articles easily. Definitely a Section 508 accessible site!

This is an interesting use of the net to give patients information about how hospitals work. I know many times we would be understaffed and be working extra hard, but RTs generally work as teams and can call in one or two people and the slack will get picked up. Nurse staffing is much more acute. Still, nice to see they’re including information about other ancillary services. The site is at http://www.patientsfirstma.org/

Mass. hospital website is set to detail nurse staffing levels – The Boston Globe

The hospital project is impressive in its detail. For each unit at each hospital, consumers can see the average number of patients per day, the number of registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and nursing assistants working each shift, and any other staff available on each shift, such as a nutritionist or respiratory therapist. There also is a bottom-line number: the average number of hours a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse spends daily with each patient.

The site includes this definition of an RT:

Respiratory Therapy
These individuals perform testing and provide respiratory treatments to diagnose and manage the care of patients with lung and breathing problems. They also monitor and maintain respiratory equipment, and provide patient education.

The information about RT staffing levels seems to be pretty general. Staffing plans are listed but not staffing levels for Respiratory Therapists.