Respiratory Assessment in the Elderly

For a complete list of accreditations for this course, please see the accreditation information box below the author’s bio.  All states  recognize our courses for accredited continuing nursing education, CNE, contact hours.

Many changes have occurred within the Long Term Care setting. Nurses are now providing care to higher acuity residents, with many of the residents requiring thorough and accurate respiratory assessment as well as the provision of respiratory treatments. Being familiar with all aspects of respiratory therapy has become essential to nurses in the skilled nursing, long term care and post-acute care settings.

The elderly patient frequently presents unique and subtle symptoms of respiratory disease and often those within this age group have a higher incidence of respiratory dysfunction and disease.


Competency will be established by documentation that the nurse successfully completed education with exam scores of 80% or higher.

Objectives

After participating in this course, you will be able to:

1. Discuss changes in pulmonary function seen with the aging process.
2. Identify key factors associated with patients experiencing infective processes.
3. Discuss various elements regarding smoking cessation including hands-on resources.
4. List physiologic changes that occur throughout the spectrum of COPD.

Curriculum