Subject(s)
Empathy , Patient Rights , Pulmonary Fibrosis/nursing , Terminal Care/psychology , Family , Female , Humans , MaleABSTRACT
Oxygen therapy requires careful assessment before treatment is commenced and ongoing monitoring. Teresa Smith reviews the use of oxygen with older people and considers the nurse's role.
Subject(s)
Oxygen Inhalation Therapy/methods , Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/therapy , Respiratory Insufficiency/therapy , Aged , Decision Making , Humans , Hypoxia/diagnosis , Oxygen Inhalation Therapy/instrumentation , Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/nursing , Pulmonary Fibrosis/nursing , Pulmonary Fibrosis/therapy , Respiratory Insufficiency/nursingABSTRACT
PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To examine the lived experience of individuals when confronted with a life-threatening disease. RESEARCH APPROACH: Qualitative, phenomenologic using Giorgi's approach. SETTING: Patients' homes in the Midwest. PARTICIPANTS: Five women and two men, aged 44-74 years, who had a variety of diagnoses, including breast cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, pulmonary fibrosis, and myocardial infarction. METHODOLOGIC APPROACH: Subjects were recruited through flyers posted at support groups and religious establishments and by word of mouth. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES: Willingness to volunteer to share their stories. FINDINGS: Participants described how their spirituality provided comfort throughout their journey, strength in facing the life-threatening illness, many blessings despite the hardship of the illness, and trust in a higher power to see them through the journey. All participants described a sense of meaning in their lives throughout their experience. CONCLUSIONS: Spirituality greatly affected patients' journeys through a life-threatening illness and provided a sense of meaning despite the illness. INTERPRETATION: Nurses need to acknowledge patients' spirituality and, in turn, assist patients in meeting their spiritual needs. By understanding the study participants' experiences, nurses can better support their patients, provide time and space for spiritual practices, and honor patients' spiritual journeys.
Subject(s)
Concept Formation , Myocardial Infarction/psychology , Neoplasms/psychology , Nurse's Role , Nursing Methodology Research/methods , Pulmonary Fibrosis/psychology , Religion and Medicine , Adult , Aged , Breast Neoplasms/diagnosis , Breast Neoplasms/nursing , Breast Neoplasms/psychology , Colorectal Neoplasms/diagnosis , Colorectal Neoplasms/nursing , Colorectal Neoplasms/psychology , Data Collection , Female , Humans , Life , Male , Middle Aged , Myocardial Infarction/diagnosis , Myocardial Infarction/nursing , Neoplasms/diagnosis , Neoplasms/nursing , Prostatic Neoplasms/diagnosis , Prostatic Neoplasms/nursing , Prostatic Neoplasms/psychology , Pulmonary Fibrosis/diagnosis , Pulmonary Fibrosis/nursing , Qualitative Research , Religious Philosophies/psychology , SpiritualityABSTRACT
A 54-year-old man with diffuse pleural fibrosis due to previous asbestos exposure developed hypercapnic respiratory failure. Noninvasive mechanical ventilation (NIMV) was started at the hospital and maintained at the patient's home, achieving reversal of the respiratory failure. During a 2-year follow-up, NIMV has been well tolerated by the patient and no relapse in ventilatory failure has occurred. Home NIMV can be considered as an alternative to pleural decortication in asbestos-related diffuse pleural fibrosis with ventilatory insufficiency.
