Pathophysiology – infant respiratory distress syndrome

Please answer ONE of the following DQ’s. Please provide the questions that is being answered as the heading. Incomplete answers will be marked as “0.”

Chapter 35

Two-week-old Tabitha has infant respiratory distress syndrome. Eighty-year-old Anthony has emphysema, and 50-year-old Jenny has pulmonary fibrosis.

a. Why are the mechanics of breathing greatly compromised in all these cases?

Chapter 36

Sixty-year-old Philip has been having difficulty catching his breath for about 2 months. He finds he gets shortness of breath even when resting. He has also been spitting up blood and has a wet cough and is hoarse. He states that he has had chest pain off and on, but now it has become more severe. He describes it as central chest pain. Philip was treated for a basal cell carcinoma of his upper lip 12 months ago, and he has been a heavy smoker for 40years.

a. As the nurse about to care for Philip, what things would you consider in this case?

Chapter 37

A 67-year-old female patient presents to the emergency room you work at complaining of shortness of breath and pain on the right side of her chest. Upon auscultation of the lung field during the physical exam, you note flatness and diminished breath sounds over the right lung. Her temperature is 101.3°F.

a. What are possible causes of her symptoms and what tests might you expect to be ordered to determine the specific cause of this patient’s symptoms? Why?

b. This patient’s husband tells you he does not understand why she feels short of breath. How might you explain to him the lung physiology that underlies her symptoms?