How can we recognise symptom accommodation in patients with COPD?

THIS ARTICLE WILL TELL YOU ABOUT

• How patients learn to cope with their symptoms of COPD
• How self-accommodation of symptoms challenges health professionals
• Tools for assessing a patient’s COPD
• Impact of smoking cessation

YOU WOULD BE LIKELY TO REFERENCE THIS ARTICLE IF YOU WERE RESEARCHING:

• COPD
• Long-term conditions
• Pulmonary rehabilitation

IN WHAT SITUATIONS WILL THIS ARTICLE BE USEFUL FOR ME?

This article will be useful to become aware of the sensitivities that accompany COPD, to understand how patients accommodate to their symptoms. And you will learn about tools to measure breathlessness and the interventions that can support patients with this condition.

QUESTIONS FOR YOUR MENTOR/TUTOR

• How can I encourage patients with COPD to take up care that is offered?
• What are the most important things I should know about working with patients with COPD?
• Where can I refer patients for smoking cessation support?

STUDENT NT DECODER

• Spirometry: measuring the amount of air going in and coming out of the lungs
• Sputum: a mixture of saliva and mucus coughed up from the respiratory tract
• Bronchodilator: drugs used to open up the small airways of the lungs to make breathing easier.
• Dyspnoea: difficulty breathing

OTHER ARTICLES YOU MIGHT FIND USEFUL

• Non-invasive ventilation in COPD 1: Managing exacerbations
• Procedure for the assessment of lung function with spirometry
• Nursing screening in patients with COPD
• Using COPD action plans to manage exacerbations
• Breathlessness in advanced disease 2: patient assessment and management