Essay Nursing Care Plan for Asthma Management – Nursing Assignment Help

Assignment Task :

PART A
1. Asthma is a chronic disease of the airways. Asthma causes the muscles in the airways to tighten and the lining of the airway becomes swollen and inflamed, producing sticky mucous. These changes cause the airways to become narrow, making it difficult to breathe. This may lead to wheezing, shortness of breath and coughing. Most people with asthma only have symptoms when they inhale a ‘trigger’ such as pollen, exercise without the right preparation, or if they catch a cold or flu.
 

2. The triggers and causes for asthma symptoms vary for different people. Some common triggers are:
• Allergy triggers such as house dust mites, pollens, pets and moulds, wood dust, chemicals
• Family history of asthma
• Upper respiratory tract infections
• Hay fever or eczema
• Cigarette smoke
• Viral infections – for example, colds and flu
• Cold air or changes in the weather
• Some medicines
• Exercise
• Foods to which the child is allergic

c. Typical asthma symptoms include:
• Coughing
• Tight feeling in the chest
• Wheezing – whistling noise when breathing
• Shortness of breath
• Struggling to breathe

d. During an asthma attack, people often experience difficulty breathing. This occurs because persons’ airways get swollen and narrower and it becomes a lot harder for air to get in and out of the lungs. Sometimes the swollen airways produce extra mucus, which may clog up the airways of your lungs which makes it even more difficult to breath. It can feel like the person is breathing through a straw. A person with asthma may also wheeze (a whistling sound when he or she
Asthma can take a psychological as well as a physical toll on a person’s life. Factors that contribute to the psychological effects of asthma include the severity of the illness and the extent to which activities are limited by the disease, the quality of social and family support available, the age at which the disease began the person’s knowledge about the illness and the sufferer’s coping style, skills and overall personality.
For most people, it is uncomfortable to have feelings of being different from other family members, friends or classmates. In social situations, people with asthma may feel self-conscious about using an inhaler or having to be careful to avoid triggers that can set off an asthma attack.
The desire to “fit in” can lead people with asthma to ignore their disease or fail to take care of it properly. This is the case with Jason as he prefers not to take his ventolin in front of his classmates as it makes him feel “different”. This is an issue as he suffers from frequent severe episodes of asthma which requires him to take his medicine appropriately otherwise his health will be jeopardize.