A good intervention for an immunosuppressed patient is an incentive spirometer. My grandmother would use an incentive spirometer for her COPD. It wasn’t always easy to have her use the spirometer. In addition, I have had to teach myself to use it, when I was diagnosed with pneumonia and had a very bad cough years ago. It’s quite difficult to use when you are feeling ill and all choked up.
Some effective obejctives for a spirometer as a nurse include:
1. Teach patient of benefits of Incentive spirometer
2. Teach patient that the reason for incentive spirometry is to help him fully inflate his lungs
3. Patient will report number of times used daily and mark progress with indicator
4. Patient will demonstrate knowledge of COPD process, meds, therapy and follow up care.