lesson 6 - respiratory disorders

Question 1

SCENARIO:

You get your nurse’s diagnosis back and read the following as shown:

Symptoms: Red and swollen tonsils, sore throat, fever, swollen glands

What disorder is this and what are the causes and treatment?

Answer 1

(Tonsilitis)

The cause is a bacterial or viral infection of the tonsils.

Treatment includes surgical removal of the tonsils.

Question 2

SCENARIO:

You get your nurse’s diagnosis back and read the following as shown:

Symptoms: Inflammation of the larynx, vocal cords cannot vibrate normally
loss of voice and in result, a hoarse whisper from the patient.

What disorder is this and what are the causes and treatment?

Answer 2

(Laryngitis)

Causes can include infection, allergy, or straining the vocal cords.

Treatment includes resting voice and increasing humidity.

Question 3

SCENARIO:

You get your nurse’s diagnosis back and read the following as shown:

Symptoms: Alveoli are filling with fluid, gas exchange becomes difficult (shortness of breath)

What disorder is this and what are the causes and treatments?

Answer 3

(Pneumonia)

Causes can be bacterial/fungal/viral infection.

Treatment includes vaccines, anti-viral medications, and antibiotics.

Question 4

SCENARIO:

Your nurse writes you a few notes describing what’s going on with your patient:

• Extremely difficult breathing
• Coughing
• Fever
• Patient has been near sick people lately (exposure to coughing and sneezing)

Talk a little bit about which disorder this is and the treatments that can be given.

Answer 4

Sars/Mers/Covid-19 is a pneumonia-like respiratory disease caused by a type of RNA virus which is spread mainly through coughing or sneezing. It causes an unusual inflammation of the lungs.

Treatments include mRNA vaccines and viral vector vaccines

Question 5

SCENARIO:

You get your nurse’s diagnosis back and read the following as shown:

Symptoms: Inflamed bronchi filled with mucus, coughing, wheezing/whistling sound when breathing

What disorder is this and what are the causes and treatments?

Answer 5

(Bronchitis)

Causes include irritants such as dust, chemical compounds, cigarette smoke, weather being a trigger, or the cilia getting destroyed

Treatments include antibiotics, rest, and fluids

Question 6

SCENARIO:

You get your nurse’s diagnosis back and read the following as shown:

Symptoms: Inflammation of the bronchi and bronchioles, narrow passage of air, wheezing, coughing, tightness of chest, and shortness of breath

What disorder is this and what are the causes and treatments?

Answer 6

(Asthma)

Causes: inhaled irritants like pollen, dust, and smoke, excess mucus production

Treatments: Inhalers containing liquid medication that relax the muscles in the bronchioles

Question 7

SCENARIO:

You get your nurse’s diagnosis back and read the following as shown:

Symptoms: walls of alveoli losing elasticity, leading to shortness of breath, coughing up mucus, wheezing, chest tightness

What disorder is this and what are the causes and treatments?

Answer 7

(Emphysema)

Causes: smoking

Treatment: inhalers, quit smoking

Question 8

SCENARIO:

You get your nurse’s diagnosis back and read the following as shown:

Symptoms: cells in the lining of the respiratory tract release thick and sticky mucus that clogs the lungs, difficulty in breathing, higher rate of infections, body’s salt water balance is compromised

What disorder is this and what are the causes and treatments?

Answer 8

(Cystic Fibrosis)

Cause: Mutation of a single gene

Treatment: Antibiotics to prevent and treat chest infections, medicines to make the mucus in the lungers thinner and easier to cough up (temporarily)

Question 9

SCENARIO:

You get your nurse’s diagnosis back and realise the only thing they wrote was the treatments.

Treatments: Radiation, chemotherapy, removal of tumour by surgery (traditional or laser), lung transplant

What disorder is this, and what some causes and a small description of it?

Answer 9

(Lung Cancer)
Uncontrolled cell division and growth in the lungs that forms carcinoma

Symptoms: Persistent cough, difficulty breathing, chest pain, loss of appetite, blood in mucus coughed up from lungs, weight loss, fatigue

Causes: Smoking, second-hand smoking, asbestos, radioactive radon gas (emitted by soil and rock, and can build up inside well-insulated homes)