Acute Bronchitis
Included In This Lesson
Study Tools For Acute Bronchitis
Outline
Overview
- Inflammation of the large airways
- Trachea and bronchi
- Usually caused by a viral infection
- Associated with URI symptoms
Nursing Points
General
- Often referred to as a chest cold
- Generally self-limiting to three weeks
Assessment
- Cough
- Dry, hacking
- Painful
- Non-productive → Productive
- Worse at night
- Wheezing
- Shortness of breath
- Fever
- Chest discomfort
Therapeutic Management
- Encourage increased fluid intake
- Avoid irritants
- Secondhand smoke
- Medications
- Antipyretic
- Cough suppressant
- Often avoided < 2yr olds
- Antibiotics are generally avoided
- Frequent hand washing
Nursing Concepts
- Infection Control
- Oxygenation
Patient Education
- Hand hygiene and cover coughs
- Antibiotics will not be effective on virus
ADPIE Related Lessons
Related Nursing Process (ADPIE) Lessons for Acute Bronchitis
Transcript
Hey guys, in this lesson we are going to talk about Acute Bronchitis in pediatric patients.
Acute bronchitis is when you have inflammation in the large airways and by large airways I just mean the trachea and the bronchi. The cause is usually viral and it’s pretty much self-limiting, with symptoms lasting 2-3 weeks.
The most obvious symptom and probably the most irritating symptom for patients is the cough. It’s a hacking, often painful cough that gets worse at night. It usually starts out as non-productive then becomes productive as the illness progresses.
These patients may also have a wheeze, shortness of breath and a fever.
For the most part these symptoms tend to be on the milder side and can be treated in the outpatient setting, so we aren’t usually looking for signs of rapid respiratory decline in these kids.
Management is supportive, remember it’s usually viral so antibiotics are avoided, so ultimately, we are treating the fever and helping them cope with the potentially painful and very irritating cough. Remember the cough is worse at night so these 2-3 weeks can be really draining for the kids and the families. Cough suppressants can be used to help with this, but over the counter cold meds shouldn’t be used in kids who are >2 years! This is because so many of these OTC drugs are combination drugs and we have to be careful about how the individual meds might affect younger kids.
One really important aspect of treatment is to make sure it stays an outpatient, simple viral infection and the best way to do this is to avoid complications like dehydration by making sure that kids are getting enough fluids. So we need educate parents on this and really encourage fluids.
For this kind of cough that lingers for a while it’s also important to avoid irritants. So make sure these kids aren’t exposed to secondhand smoke.
Your priority nursing concepts for a pediatric patient with acute bronchitis are oxygenation and infection control.
Okay so let’s go over the key points for acute bronchitis! So it’s often called a chest cold and it’s usually viral and self-limiting, lasting 2-3 weeks. The major symptom is a cough, it’s a dry, hacking, painful cough that is worse at night.
Treatment is supportive- so it’s focused on managing symptoms like the fever and cough.
Make sure the patient avoids irritants! And encourage good hand hygiene because it’s viral and can spread easily!
That’s it for our lesson on acute bronchitis in pediatric patients. Make sure you checkout all the resources attached to this lesson. Now, go out and be your best self today. Happy Nursing!
Tiona RN
Concepts Covered:
- Studying
- Medication Administration
- Adult
- Emergency Care of the Cardiac Patient
- Intraoperative Nursing
- Microbiology
- Cardiac Disorders
- Vascular Disorders
- Nervous System
- Upper GI Disorders
- Central Nervous System Disorders – Brain
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- Fundamentals of Emergency Nursing
- Dosage Calculations
- Understanding Society
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- Hematologic Disorders
- Newborn Care
- Adulthood Growth and Development
- Disorders of Pancreas
- Postoperative Nursing
- Pregnancy Risks
- Neurological
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- Noninfectious Respiratory Disorder
- Peripheral Nervous System Disorders
- Learning Pharmacology
- Prenatal Concepts
- Tissues and Glands
- Developmental Considerations
- Factors Influencing Community Health
- Childhood Growth and Development
- Prenatal and Neonatal Growth and Development
- Developmental Theories
- Basic
- Neonatal
- Pediatric
- Gastrointestinal
- Newborn Complications
- Labor Complications
- Fetal Development
- Terminology
- Labor and Delivery
- Postpartum Care
- Communication
- Basics of Mathematics
- Statistics
- Basics of Sociology
- Cardiovascular
- Shock
- Shock
- Disorders of the Posterior Pituitary Gland
- Endocrine
- Disorders of the Thyroid & Parathyroid Glands
- Liver & Gallbladder Disorders
- Lower GI Disorders
- Respiratory
- Delegation
- Perioperative Nursing Roles
- Acute & Chronic Renal Disorders
- Respiratory Emergencies
- Disorders of the Adrenal Gland
- Documentation and Communication
- Preoperative Nursing
- Legal and Ethical Issues
- Oncology Disorders
- Female Reproductive Disorders
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- Renal Disorders
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- Emergency Care of the Trauma Patient
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- Basics of NCLEX
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- Central Nervous System Disorders – Spinal Cord
- Respiratory System
- Emergency Care of the Respiratory Patient
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- Concepts of Mental Health
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- Health & Stress
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- Prioritization
- Community Health Overview
- Gastrointestinal Disorders
- Integumentary Disorders
- Respiratory Disorders
- Neurologic and Cognitive Disorders
- Renal and Urinary Disorders
- Infectious Disease Disorders
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