Managing Long-Term Conditions: Medications & Treatment - Essay Sample

Introduction

The symptoms and complications resulting from long term conditions can only be regulated through the intervention of medications and treatment. However, diseases cannot be cured entirely. Nonetheless, the long term conditions are severe diseases contracted either in the early stages of life or during old age. Furthermore, any alteration in the medications of long-term conditions can lead to inconsistent symptoms in the victims (Raluy-Callado et al., 2015, p. 120). Long term conditions include epilepsy, diabetes, asthma, arthritis, dementia, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, rheumatism, lupus, and angina. This paper will focus on Mr. Brian’s (pseudonym) case study discussing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as one of the numerous long term conditions by elaborately considering the pathophysiology, pharmacology, psychological implication, social implications, and the overview of appropriate nursing response to the disease.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease refers to a collection of various lung diseases, such as ass emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and obstructive airway disease. In most cases, individuals suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease experience considerable difficulty, particularly in breathing as a result of their airways narrowing. A phenomenon is known as airflow obstruction (Neumeier & Keith, 2020, p. 122). Nonetheless, there are numerous risk factors associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, including genetics, exposure to tobacco, exposure to chemicals and dust, and history of asthma. As such, the rate of prevalence among individuals varies significantly. In the United Kingdom, COPD is the second most notable disease of the lung after asthma. Approximately twoper cent of the total population to 4.5 per cent of individuals aged above 40 suffers from COPD (Neumeier & Keith 2020, p. 157).

Mr. Brian’s Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Case Study

Mr. Brian is a 72-year-old with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was diagnosed with the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease while at the age of 67 years. Nonetheless, Mr. Brian has been smoking for about 35 years, which is a relatively long time. Mr. Brian has not been able to carry out most of his activities primarily due to his condition, which led to him experiencing increased cough and breathlessness. Moreover, on admission, Mr. Brian's hygiene was noted to have significantly deteriorated. There are numerous challenges that Mr. Brian is undergoing. For instance, he is experiencing depression, which has resulted in a loss of weight. He is equally lonely since his wife is dead and does not work, meaning that he does not interact with his peers. Effective treatment was administered to Mr. Brian, leading to a significant improvement in his condition. The attempt to advise Mr. Brian about the advantages of pulmonary rehabilitation was in line with the NMC code that encourages patient-centered care.

Pathophysiology

The chronic obstructive pulmonary disease begins as a result of numerous integrated processes of the peripheral airway narrowing and inflammation. As a result, the airflow is limited, leading to the alveoli and the terminal bronchioles being destroyed. The further destruction of the neighbouring capillary vessel results in drastic limitation of the flow of air and significantly suppresses the capacity of gas transfer (Raluy-Callado et al., 2015, p. 155). Nonetheless, the inflammation's severity, fibrosis development, and secretions within the airways play a critical role in determining the rate of airflow limitation. Consequently, the exhaling process's low level of airflow results in the trapping of air, leading to suppressed inspiratory capacity,causing breathlessness during exertion.

The primary symptoms of chronic pulmonary disease include increasing breathlessness, a consistent chesty cough, rapid infections of the chest, constant wheezing. In most cases, the symptoms worsen over time, thus making daily activities very difficult. However, treatment dramatically helps control the progression of the symptoms (Neumeier & Keith 2020, p. 210). Other less common symptoms include weight loss, blood coughs, chest pain, and energy deprivation. As a victim of COPD, Mr. Brian experienced most of the symptoms like breathlessness, coughs. Nonetheless, the minimal mobility of Mr. Brian before admission to the hospital meant that he had low energy. The failures of Mr. Brian to also properly carry out his daily activities suggest that the condition might have progressed significantly.

Living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease poses several impacts on Mr. Brian’s life. The impacts can be classified as social, economic, or physical. The most evident social effect of the condition in Mr. Brian’s life is depression and lack of association with his family as he spends most of his time watching the television or sleeping. The condition has also exposed Mr. Brian to some physical drawbacks. Mr. Brian cannot be able to properly perform his daily activities, which mostly entails physical work. As such, his hygiene has dramatically deteriorated. Consequently, Mr. Brian should expect to gain physical strength and recover steadily through observation of the prescribed meals and medication. Nonetheless, during the recovery process, Mr. Brian should be aware of symptoms like dry mouth, dizziness, runny nose, tremors, upset stomach, and scratchy throat since these symptoms are closely linked to the medication of the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In case any of the symptoms persist during medication, Mr. Brian should respond by promptly seeking medical advice from the doctor who will advise him accordingly on how to proceed with the medication process while mitigating the side effects due to the medication.

Pharmacology

The medical prescription for Mr. Brian’s case includes antibiotics, oral steroids, nebulized bronchodilators, and non-invasive ventilation during the hospitalisation period. Nonetheless, on discharge, Mr. Brian's prescription included Combination inhaled -budesonide and formoterol (Symbicort), nebulised salbutamol, prednisolone, carbocisteine, indapamide, perindopril, Long Term Oxygen Therapy (LTOT) via a concentrator. This is coherent to the medication guidelines since the patient experienced moderate exacerbations resulting in hospitalization (Neumeier & Keith 2020, p. 320). Thus, the medication was prescribed according to the patient's COPD group and the appropriate first-line options of therapy provided. The medications, mostly inhalers, work by triggering the relaxing effect on the muscles present around the patient's airways. As such, the medication collectively works towards relieving the shortness of breath and coughing effect hence making the breathing processes simpler (Raluy-Callado et al., 2015, p. 130). While Mr. Brian does not need any thorough education on how to self-administer the drugs, the nurses need to advise Mr. Brian on the importance of adherence to his medication and the consequences of no routinely following the prescriptions. This will immensely influence the patient's confidence while self-administering the drugs since he is fully aware of the information regarding the medication prescription.

Mr. Brian should be appropriately advised, particularly on the types of meals to eat during the medication process. , As a result of the COPD, he is likely to have little or no appetite. And the consistent feeling of tiredness may greatly hinder him from preparing or properly eating his meals. However, standard precautions like ensuring that only healthy foods are eaten, observing shortness of breath during eating, and making eating easier should be clearly outlined for Mr. Brian since this will dramatically help him recover and avoid most of the side effects during the medication process. According to Mr. Brian’s records, it is not clear if he experienced the side effects of the medication or not, but it is speculated that he might experience some of the side effects.

Numerous complementary treatments can be prescribed alongside the recommended COPD treatment to mitigate the side effects. However, adequate research has not been conducted about their effectiveness. Furthermore, there is a great potential of the complementary drugs interacting with the standard medication drugs for COPD, leading to severe risks (Raluy-Callado et al., 2015, p. 147). As such, Mr. Brian should seek guidance from the hospital before using any alternative or complementary drugs during his medication to understand the potential risks better. The frequency of Mr. Brian's medical review will largely depend on his care needs and health records. Due to this, his safety will be the most critical factor while deciding how often his medical review will be done, and the frequency is noted in the care plan. For his case, the medical reviews will be carried out three times in a year (Neumeier & Keith 2020, p. 110). The reviews on Mr. Brian's medication will take into consideration the National Prescribing Centre's guidelines for medical reports. As such, the patient's review will be divided into three main categories, which include the prescription review, which stresses the need for the review, the compliance, the concordance review, and the clinical review. This will improve the collective decision making between Mr. Brian and the professional health officer attending to him.

Psychological Implications

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, like any other long-term condition, has a substantial influence on the victim's psychological well-being. In most cases, patients are highly vulnerable to anxiety and depression (Wilson, 2019, p. 111). Similarly, Mr. Brian has been adversely psychologically affected by the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to Mr. Brian's daughter, her father had been highly immobile with most of his time either spent sleeping or watching the television. Nonetheless, the neighbours also acknowledge the observation that Mr. Brian had appeared stressed of late and had eve lost weight.

The pathophysiology of the psychological effects of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is very complicated. It can only be understood through the keen consideration of the notable risk factors, response to both biochemical and symptomatology alterations (Wilson, 2019, p. 129). The anxiety and depression witnessed by Mr. Brian can be linked to the exacerbation rates, an extended stay in the hospital, which was about six days, increased mortality, and the reduction in the quality of life and status. Since Mr. Brian is a retired foundry worker, it is evident that the decline to his quality of life has dramatically led to his depression and anxiety. Nonetheless, it is noted that Mr. Brian's quality of life had drastically decreased; this can be linked to his poor state of personal hygiene while being administered to the hospital.

The nurses must consider the psychological wellbeing of the patient since it forms part of the complete, holistic treatment for patients. Nonetheless, trough psychological care, the nurses can dramatically assist patients like Mr. Brian met their social, spiritual, and psychological needs (Sansbury et al., 2018, p.134). For instance, since Mr. Brian is a widower and all his children do not live in the immediate area, both informational and emotional support from the nurses will radically help reduce the patient's distress and significantly reduce most of the physical symptoms experienced by Mr.Brian. This will also immensely aid in instilling a positive mind-set on Mr. Brian, leading to a significant recovery from most of the psychological impacts. To ensure that the patients have a positive mind-set, the nurses should observe proper...