My research poster is on the effectiveness of incentive spirometers in preventing postoperative pulmonary complications. The purpose of the research was to determine whether the routine use of incentive spirometers alone is effective in preventing postoperative pulmonary complications in adult inpatient populations.
7 Responses
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
This was an interesting an informative poster. I’ve never really questioned the usefulness of incentive spirometers and promote their use with most of my patients. I think this comes from an experience in my first year of nursing when a surgeon was adamant that all of his patients must have one and use it. My stepfather was recently released from the hospital after pneumonia. I was concerned that he didn’t have one so I ordered on from Amazon and made him use it, because in my mind that was just what you did. I’ve never actually looked at research regarding their effectiveness. I just believed that you HAD to have one. Thanks for the learning opportunity!
Thank you for the kind remarks. I was surprised about these clinical studies as well. I also automatically thought that incentive spirometers is what you give patients. No questions asked. I learned from my research that most patients do not even know how to use it. And some patients just forget about it. You are so kind to buy your stepfather an IS. What I learned to be the most important factor is early ambulation. Of course, PT and staff members need to assist. Thanks again and good luck!
This was very informative! I knew what the incentive spirometer was but always wondered how much it really does help patients.• Incentive spirometer, deep breathing, early ambulation, oral
care, and having the head of bed above 30 degrees, reduced the risk of postoperative pulmonary complications such as pneumonia and unintended intubation (Cassidy, 2013). You poster was very informative and really educated me. Good job!
Cassidy, R.M., Rosenkranz, P., McCabe, K.,Rosen, E.J., &
McAneny, D. (2013).I COUGH:Reducing postoperative pulmonary
complications with a multidisciplinary patient care program.
Journal of American Medical Association Surgery, 148(8), 740–745.
doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2013.358
I read this article too but couldn’t cite it because it was more than 5 years old. I myself never questioned the use of IS until my mom’s knee surgery and she had one next to her. She was not using it properly. She was using it upside down and blowing out instead of inhaling. After my research, I learned that most people do not know how to use it and adherence is low. My mom’s nurse probably instructed my mom how to use it but needed a teach back demonstration to show understanding. I ended up teaching my mom how to use it. But what about other patients that don’t have family members in the clinical world that can teach something as basic as the incentive spirometer. Thanks for the kind remarks. Good luck!
This was very informative! I knew what the incentive spirometer was but always wondered how much it really does help patients.• Incentive spirometer, deep breathing, early ambulation, oral care, and having the head of bed above 30 degrees, reduced the risk of postoperative pulmonary complications such as pneumonia and unintended intubation (Cassidy, 2013). You poster was very informative and really educated me. Good job!
Cassidy, R.M., Rosenkranz, P., McCabe, K.,Rosen, E.J., &
McAneny, D. (2013).I COUGH:Reducing postoperative pulmonary
complications with a multidisciplinary patient care program.
Journal of American Medical Association Surgery, 148(8), 740–745.
doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2013.358
Thank you for viewing my poster. I learned that the most important thing for postop patients is to ambulate as early as they can along with pain medications. Of course in the beginning, PT and other staff members will be there to assist with ambulating. As patients gain strength, they will be able to walk more and more on their own and reduce pulmonary complications. Thanks for the kind review. Good luck!
I agree using an incentive spirometer is an essential postoperative tool for teaching patients to maximize lung capacity after surgery. It can also be used to teach patients effective breathing by learning to take slow, deep breaths, especially for patients with lung disease.