University:
American Career College
Course:
NURS-113 | Beginning Medical/Surgical Nursing
Academic year:

2019
Views:

273

Pages:

1
Author:

Carissa Thomas

CAUSES Acute respiratory failure occurs when fluid builds up in the air sacs in your lungs. When that happens, your lungs can’t release oxygen into your blood. In turn, SYMPTOMS Rapid breathing, confusion, inability to breath, restlessness, anxiety, sleepiness, loss of consciousness, rapid and shallow breathing, irregular heartbeats, and racing heart. your organs can’t get enough oxygen-rich blood to function. You can also develop acute respiratory failure if your lungs can’t remove carbon dioxide from your blood. DIAGNOSTICS AND LABS Some things that can be done to diagnose include performing a physical exam, asking questions about family or personal health history, check pt’s oxygen and carbon dioxide levels level with a pulse oximetry device and an arterial blood gas test, and order a chest X-ray to look for abnormalities in your lungs. NURSING ASSESSMENT/HISTORY Assess general appearance and mental state. Check skin color for signs of cyanosis. Assess patients breathing. If they are doing pursed lip breathing, respirations, heart rate, b/p. Assess airway. Assess chest movement. Assess breath sounds and lung sounds. Pulse oximetry and ABG’s. Check history of smoking. COLLABORATIVE TREATMENT Some patients may need to be ventilated or put into prone positioning. Sedation and medications may be used. As well as fluid management and ECMO. You want to make sure that the patient if coherent enough is educated and understands each of these. In less serious cases oxygen may be given and teaching on deep breathing.