Best Methods Of Aspiration Pneumonia Prevention

By Karen Roberts


Aspiration pneumonia is basically an infection which affects the lungs and is supposed to be caused by food materials or liquid particles which goes down through the trachea to the lungs. Any individuals who might be diagnosed with this kind of a disease are always referred to the SLP which stands for special language pathologists whose work involves swallowing problem evaluation. There are several proven strategies which can be used in aspiration pneumonia prevention for those individuals who might be at high risk.

Elevation of the bed head is actually one of such methods. It has been viewed that constant supine position tends to greatly improve on gastro esophageal reflux together with aspiration probability. It is advisable to elevate the head of beds to angel of about thirty to forty five degrees for those patients who are at high risk of contracting this kind of a disease.

The nursing staff are expected to perform oral evaluation for all those individuals who might be at risk and then carefully develop a good care plan which would effectively address specific needs. Residents are supposed to visit dentists for immediate concerns and they are expected to be visiting these dentists on regular basis. Clinicians on the other hand are supposed to keenly look at the periodontal infection possibility to all those individuals who might be having some kind of fever.

Oral hygiene on daily basis is also extremely crucial as a preventive measure. A team approach of care can greatly reduce the risk of contracting this infection and some other common infections. It is therefore necessary for residents to carefully brush their teeth using tooth paste after every meal. Inspection of mouth so as to identify sores, signs of infection as well as bleeding is also recommended.

Prevention strategies for long term must have a team of experts approach. Dietitians, nurses, rehab experts, physicians without forgetting nursing assistants usually have a great role in the plan care although the special language pathologist services are important since he is a professional who has to evaluate the ability of swallowing of any particular patients. The SLP is also supposed to determine the correct amounts of both food and liquid intake of a patient.

Some guidelines have been developed by specialists which suggest that those patient whom are at a high risk of contracting this kind of a disease need to be regularly monitored especially for tolerance up to the enteral feeding whereby one is supposed to be noting abdominal pains complains, abdominal distention while at the same time monitoring volumes of gastric residual.

In reality some individuals might not be able to effectively from these kind of interventions. In such a case the documentation plus the prognosis of residents need to indicate that this inability or probably refusal is actually a constant and unavoidable situation coming from diagnosis of a resident.

Continuous method of feeding is mostly used in the most critical types of care units. In conclusion this illness once contracted by a patient it does not resolve by just as single intervention. Patients who might be at risks are remain at this risk which is significantly dependent on fluctuations in nutritional together with their health status.




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