Approach to the Respiratory Patient

Week 1 - Common Respiratory Diseases

• Lower respiratory tract disease
• Pleural disorders
• Pulmonary disease
• POCUS and sampling
• Management

Learning outcomes:

• Describe lower respiratory tract physiology and the disease processes seen in practice
• Understand the different causes of pleural disorders
• Understand the different causes of pulmonary disease
• Identify the uses of POCUS and understand which patients may benefit from thoracocentesis
• Describe how to manage the patient with acute respiratory distress

Week 2 - Oxygen Therapy

• How to identify a patient in need of oxygen therapy
• Non-invasive methods of oxygen therapy
• Invasive methods of oxygen therapy
• Monitoring a response to therapy

Learning outcomes:

• Understand which parameters are used to identify patients who are in need of oxygen therapy
• Describe which methods of non-invasive oxygen therapy are available and which is the most suitable for their patient
• Describe which methods of invasive oxygen therapy are available and which is the most suitable for their patient
• Discuss whether a patient is responding to oxygen therapy and when a decision may be made to discontinue oxygen support

Week 3 - Blood Gases

• Why do we use blood gas analysis?
• How to take a sample for a blood gas analysis
• What is acid / base?
• Interpretation of a blood gas report
• Compensation

Learning outcomes:

• Understand why blood gas analysis is important for managing the respiratory patient
• Describe how to take a sample for blood gas analysis
• Understand acid / base status and what this means for the patient
• Interpret a blood gas report using a step by step approach so that this can be transferred to your patients in practice
• Understand the physiology behind compensatory mechanisms

Week 4 - BOAS: From Admit to Discharge

• Admit considerations
• BOAS plan
• Anaesthesia considerations
• Dealing with the BOAS crisis
• Other nursing considerations

Learning outcomes:

• List the considerations which should be discussed with the owner when the patient is admitted to the hospital
• Discuss safe ways of managing these cases whilst they are hospitalised to minimise complications
• Understand how to make BOAS patients anaesthesia plans safer
• Explain the concerns associated with a BOAS crisis and how to manage these
• Describe other nursing considerations associated with these breeds and how we can factor these into our nursing care plans for hospitalised patients

The course will be fully tutored by Elle Haskey and Katie Gray, and will consist of 10 hours of CPD given in various formats, including tutorials, tasks, case studies, forum discussions and quizzes.

For some further information about our Online Tutored CPD courses - please open the guide below:

ONLINE TUTORED CPD COURSES - PDF GUIDE