Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) can be described as a progressive group of lung diseases, which leads to difficulty breathing over time and includes emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and asthma in some cases; the disease has no cure; however, is preventable (American Lung Association, 2017). The disease process has been linked to smoking as an estimated 80% of people with COPD have a history of smoking, others impacted may have come in contact with secondhand smoke during their lifetime (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). COPD has numerous impacts and includes physical, emotional, and financial hardship. This often results in frequent and costly hospitalizations. The following will …show more content…
According to the American Lung Association (2017), more than 11 million people have been diagnosed with COPD and is the third-leading cause of death in the United States. Individuals suffering from COPD often have difficulty with activities of daily living such as working, eating, sleeping, or moving in general causes significant shortness of breath (American Lung Association, 2017). Individuals may experience frequent hospitalizations when exacerbations arise, which then leaves an emotional and financial burden.
Working and living in South-Central Kentucky where tobacco is the state’s leading crop, and smoking is often promoted has allowed a clear understanding of the importance of early education. While COPD is an ultimately a global concern, the local impact is significant as Kentucky currently leads the country in COPD prevalence (American Lung Association, 2017).
Now that the importance and prevalence of COPD have been discussed, the focus on change will ensue. To understand the needs of patients, sitting down and speaking to the patient is the first step. Are their health care and home-care needs being met? What do they believe would assist in preventing a future hospital …show more content…
Overall, taking a transitional care approach that focuses on collaboration has been shown to decrease the rate of hospital readmissions related to COPD and COPD exacerbations (Krishnan, Gussin, Prieto-Centurion, Sullivan, Zaidi, Thomashow, 2015). Researching current literature on the topic would include utilizing educational libraries to locate and examine scholarly references as well as utilizing an internet database to uncover articles of interest and