COPD System Disorder

What is a COPD System Disorder Template?

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a progressive respiratory disorder characterized by persistent airflow limitation, making it difficult for individuals to breathe. This condition encompasses various lung diseases that primarily include chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It's a long-term and often irreversible condition that gradually worsens, affecting the airways and lung tissue.

In COPD, the airways become inflamed and narrowed, while the air sacs in the lungs lose their elasticity and may be damaged. This results in difficulty exhaling air effectively, trapping air in the lungs, and causing a feeling of breathlessness. Common symptoms include persistent cough, excessive sputum production, wheezing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath, particularly during physical exertion.

This condition predominantly affects individuals with a history of exposure to certain environmental factors, primarily tobacco smoke or irritants. Long-term smoking is the leading cause of COPD, with smokers or ex-smokers being at the highest risk. However, nonsmokers can also develop COPD due to exposure to environmental pollutants or genetic factors.

Typically, COPD affects individuals over 40 years old, yet symptoms may start to manifest later in life, and diagnosis often occurs in individuals aged 50 and above. It tends to progress slowly, but as it advances, it can significantly impact daily activities, decrease quality of life, and lead to severe complications like respiratory infections, heart problems, and even respiratory failure. 

This respiratory disorder affects millions globally and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. It's a significant public health concern and burdens healthcare systems substantially due to frequent hospitalizations and ongoing management needs. COPD is a chronic condition that requires ongoing management and lifestyle modifications, including smoking cessation, pulmonary rehabilitation, medications like bronchodilators and steroids, oxygen therapy, and vaccinations against respiratory infections.

How does it work?

Step 1: Gather your resources

COPD system disorder templates are a valuable resource and essential to keep on hand. Make sure that you have a copy of the free printable PDF when the need arises by either clicking the “Download Template” or “Use Template” button or by searching “ COPD system disorder template” on Carepatron’s template library’s search bar on the website or app.

Step 2: Collate essential Information

Once the patient has been referred to a COPD unit or specialist staff member, utilizing the COPD system disorder template to ensure all goals of care are met is seamless and easily accessible to relevant parties via Carepatron’s centralized workspace. 

The patient's information can be collected and stored within the document, and relevant aspects of the care plan can be charted. The care plan allows for individualized treatment options. It acts as a scaffolding to ensure goals of care are met, and the next steps are recorded for future reference or distribution to other healthcare specialists who are part of the patient's care team. 

Step 3: Store the chart securely

After reviewing the COPD system disorder template and creating a viable and individualized plan for the patient, you need to secure the plan so that access is only granted to relevant parties. 

Ensure this through Carepatrons HIPAA-compliant free patient records software. Here, all relevant medical records can be safely stored and collated for ease and security.

When would you use this template?

A COPD system disorder template is commonly utilized in healthcare settings when managing patients diagnosed with COPD. This template can be utilized in various scenarios, such as:

Clinical assessment and diagnosis

The template aids in the initial assessment of patients suspected or diagnosed with COPD. It helps structure the collection of patient history, physical examination findings, diagnostic tests (such as pulmonary function tests), and symptom assessments to confirm the diagnosis and determine disease severity.

Treatment planning and management

The template assists healthcare providers in developing personalized treatment plans for patients diagnosed with COPD. It outlines interventions such as medication prescriptions (bronchodilators, corticosteroids), oxygen therapy, pulmonary rehabilitation, smoking cessation programs, and vaccination schedules.

Monitoring and follow-up

The template facilitates the monitoring of COPD patients during follow-up visits. It helps track changes in symptoms, lung function tests, exacerbation frequency, and medication adherence. This information is crucial for adjusting treatment plans and providing ongoing care.

Patient education

It is an educational tool for patients and caregivers, providing information on COPD, its progression, symptom management, lifestyle modifications, and self-care strategies. It can also include action plans for managing exacerbations.

Transition of care

When patients with COPD transition between healthcare settings (hospital to home, primary care to specialty care), the template ensures continuity of care. It contains essential information about the patient's COPD status, current treatment, and follow-up requirements.

Quality improvement initiatives

Healthcare organizations use COPD templates for data collection and quality improvement efforts. Standardizing documentation enables systematic analysis of patient outcomes, treatment effectiveness, and adherence to clinical guidelines.

What do the results mean?

Assessments, interventions, and rationale for COPD focus on several key areas, some of which are outlined below:

Respiratory assessment

Evaluate respiratory status, including auscultation for breath sounds, assessment of cough, sputum production, and respiratory rate. Assess the patient's ability to complete sentences without dyspnea and signs of increased work of breathing. 

Rationale: Regular monitoring allows for identifying changes in respiratory status, and promptly guiding treatment plan adjustments.

Oxygen saturation monitoring

Regularly monitor oxygen saturation levels via pulse oximetry to gauge oxygenation status.

Rationale: Helps assess the effectiveness of respiratory interventions and guides decisions regarding supplemental oxygen therapy.

Symptom assessment

Assess the severity and frequency of symptoms like dyspnea, cough, and sputum production using standardized scales (e.g., Modified Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale).

Rationale:  Allows for objective measurement of symptom severity, aiding in treatment planning and evaluating the effectiveness of interventions over time.

Activity tolerance

Evaluate the patient's ability to perform activities of daily living and any limitations due to dyspnea or fatigue.

Rationale: Understanding the patient's functional limitations helps set realistic rehabilitation goals and determine disease progression.

Smoking cessation

Encourage and support smoking cessation as it significantly reduces disease progression and exacerbations.

Rationale: Smoking cessation is the most effective intervention to slow down disease progression and reduce exacerbations.

Medication management

Prescribe bronchodilators (short-acting and long-acting) to relieve bronchospasm and corticosteroids for inflammation. Oxygen therapy might be necessary in severe cases to maintain adequate oxygen levels.

Rationale: Bronchodilators and corticosteroids target airway obstruction and inflammation, relieving symptoms and preventing exacerbations.

Pulmonary rehabilitation

Recommend or refer patients to pulmonary rehabilitation programs focusing on exercise training, education, and behavioral interventions to improve exercise capacity and quality of life.

Rationale: Improves exercise tolerance, enhances patient education, and fosters self-management, contributing to improved quality of life.

Vaccination

Administer influenza and pneumococcal vaccines to prevent respiratory infections, which can exacerbate COPD.

Rationale: Reduces the risk of respiratory infections, minimizing exacerbations and hospitalizations in COPD patients.

Nutritional support

Address malnutrition or weight loss, common in COPD, by ensuring adequate nutrition and providing dietary counseling.

Rationale: Adequate nutrition improves overall health and supports better lung function and immune response, aiding in disease management.

Research & evidence

COPD causes persistent respiratory symptoms and airflow obstruction, and through early intervention and good management, the disease is considered both preventable and treatable (GOLD, 2022). Sixty-five million people worldwide are affected by the disease and the onset has been linked to the abnormal inflammatory response within the lungs to harmful gasses and particles (WHO,2020; NICE,2018). 

The push for thorough nursing care plans that can be utilized by both care staff and the patients themselves is a step towards addressing the massive economic burden and healthcare crisis the COPD sufferers and staff feel,NHS England estimates an annual expenditure of £1.9 billion toward COPD related concerns and although a financial pressure for our health systems, the disease also costs the patient their livelihood, ability to work, social isolation and psychological strain as their quality of life diminishes (NHS England, 2019). 

The instigation of productive care strategies that integrate the work of healthcare professionals and patient self-management has been highlighted by Sargent and Boden (2006) as pivotal in effectively managing COPD patients. These approaches boost self-awareness and efficacy, potentially alleviating some of the patient-related costs. Self-management, defined by Barlow et al. (2002), involves handling symptoms, treatment, and physical consequences of the illness while supporting lifestyle adjustments.

Embracing self-management in chronic diseases empowers individuals, enabling early recognition of exacerbation symptoms, thereby reducing hospital admissions and slowing disease progression, as Jolly et al. (2018) suggested. This collaborative approach between the nursing care plan and the patient is what makes for a viable and substantial difference in the quality of the patient's life. 

References

Barlow, J., Wright, C., Sheasby, J., Turner, A., & Hainsworth, J. (2002). Self-management approaches for people with chronic conditions: a review. Patient Education and Counseling, 48(2), 177–187. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0738-3991(02)00032-0

Boyer, P. (2023, January 2). British Journal of Community Nursing - What are the benefits of using self-management plans for COPD patients in the community: a critical review of the literature. British Journal of Community Nursing. https://www.britishjournalofcommunitynursing.com/content/long-term-conditions/what-are-the-benefits-of-using-self-management-plans-for-copd-patients-in-the-community-a-critical-review-of-the-literature/

Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease. (2022). Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease. Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease - GOLD. http://www.goldcopd.org

Jolly, K., Sidhu, M. S., Hewitt, C. A., Coventry, P. A., Daley, A., Jordan, R., Heneghan, C., Singh, S., Ives, N., Adab, P., Jowett, S., Varghese, J., Nunan, D., Ahmed, K., Dowson, L., & Fitzmaurice, D. (2018). Self-management of patients with mild COPD in primary care: randomized controlled trial. BMJ, 361, k2241. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k2241

NHS England. (2019). NHS England Respiratory Disease. England.nhs.uk; NHS England. https://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/clinical-policy/respiratory-disease/

NICE. (2018). Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in over 16s: diagnosis and management | Guidance | NICE. Www.nice.org.uk. http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg101

Sargent, P., & Boaden, R. (2006). Implementing the role of the community matron. Nursing Times, 102(13), 23. https://www.nursingtimes.net/archive/implementing-the-role-of-the-community-matron-28-03-2006/

Vera, M. (2019). Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Nursing Care Plans - Nurseslabs. Nurseslabs. https://nurseslabs.com/chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease-copd-nursing-care-plans/

WHO. (2020). The top 10 causes of death. Www.who.int. http://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/the-top-10-causes-of-death