COPD

In nursing homes, residents might be suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). This is because COPD is caused by smoking. Many members of the elderly population smoked when they were younger. This is because the effort to reduce smoking is recent. If your loved one has COPD, they will need specific care in a nursing home facility. Here, you can learn about this care to ensure that your loved one is getting it.

Lung Disease

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, also known as COPD, is a lung disease. It is most commonly caused by smoking. Damage to the lungs from years of smoking cannot be undone. COPD is a mix between two different diseases – bronchitis and emphysema. Chronic bronchitis gets diagnosed when the lung airways get inflamed. Mucus forms, making it hard for the individual to breathe. When the tiny air sacs that allow air to move in and out from your lungs get damaged, they don’t work properly. They no longer stretch as much as they should. This is called emphysema, and it causes the individual to feel short of breath. To know how to treat COPD, you should know preventative measures that your loved one should take. These measures can lessen the pain and discomfort they may be in.

Quitting smoking is the first step your loved one must take to stop COPD from getting worse. There are also many medicines that physicians may prescribe to lessen the symptoms. An oxygen treatment may be needed if symptoms get particularly bad.

COPD Care

When admitting your loved one who has COPD into a nursing home, you expect them to get cared for. The nursing home staff should make the resident feel comfortable. They should do anything in their power to lessen the resident’s symptoms. Failure to do the following things will result in neglect and abuse by the staff to COPD residents:

• Failure to check a resident’s activity such as smoking. People who suffer from COPD should quit smoking immediately.
• Failure to help a resident with daily chores that cause them to feel short of breath. These tasks include laundry, cooking, and cleaning.
• Inability to do breath training and oxygen treatments with the resident.
• Failure to administer medication in the proper manner and at the right times.
• Failure to provide the resident with the proper healthy meals to keep them at a proper weight.
• Inability to hook up residents to the mechanical ventilation machines properly.
• Failure to administer antibiotics prescribed to the resident. This can result in the resident getting pneumonia. People who suffer from COPD are at high risk for pneumonia.

If your loved one is admitted to a nursing home, make sure to watch out for signs of neglect and abuse. If symptoms of COPD worsen, it would be wise to investigate the matter. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is a progressive disease that will get worse over time. But, nursing home staff should do everything they can to manage COPD. If your loved one is cared for, your loved one should have good quality of life. If the staff fails to provide your loved one with the treatment that they need, remove them from the home.