Respiratory Home Health Care

Respiratory care at home can contribute to improved quality of life and significant cost savings. Your respiratory care practitioner can help you with your treatment, answer questions you may have, provide instructions, and offer suggestions. Here are some tips to ensure that you get the greatest benefit from your respiratory home care.

Get Involved

It is important for you to exercise your rights as a patient. Ask questions of your physician, your respiratory care practitioner, your discharge planner, and if necessary, your home medical equipment supplier. If training is necessary, make sure that you and a family caregiver participate.

Safety

Safety for you, your caregivers, and visitors is very important. If you have been prescribed oxygen therapy, you shouldn't smoke while using oxygen, and no one near you should smoke either. Put up no-smoking signs in your home where you will be using oxygen.

Because oxygen is supports combustion, you should stay at least five feet away from gas stoves, lighted fireplaces, candles, or any other open flame. Don't use flammable products like aerosol sprays, paint thinner, or rubbing alcohol. Keep an all-purpose fire extinguisher nearby, and let the fire department know that you have oxygen in the house.

If you have a cylinder of oxygen, make sure it is in a stand or secured to something solid. The tank is heavy, and if it gets knocked over and damaged, the gas could escape, making the cylinder act like a rocket. If you have long tubing that lets you move about the house, warn visitors so they won't trip on it.

Make sure your electrical system doesn't overload because of the equipment you are using. Use only grounded electrical outlets. Avoid extension cords. Notify the electric company that you have a ventilator or oxygen concentrator in your home so your house will get priority attention if the power fails.

Infection Control

Preventing infections can help the respiratory home care patient stay as healthy as possible. Hand-washing is the single most important thing for patients and caregivers to perform on a routine basis. Use a liquid soap and lots of warm running water. Work up a good lather and scrub for at least 15 seconds (including fingernails). Rinse well, with your hands pointed down to keep the dirty water from running up your arms. Dry your hands with a clean paper or cloth towel. Even if the caregiver wears gloves in caring for the patient, hand washing is required before putting the gloves on and after taking them off. If you have to use a moisturizer on your hands, avoid a petroleum-based product if you wear latex gloves.

Your respiratory care equipment should be cleaned on a regular basis. Besides washing with a mild detergent and rinsing carefully, it is necessary to sanitize your equipment in a vinegar solution of one part vinegar to one part water. Rinse carefully and let the parts air dry on a clean cloth or towel.

Preventing Respiratory Infection and Avoiding Irritants

People with COPD have difficulty clearing their lungs of bacteria, dusts and other pollutants in the air. This makes them at risk for lung infections that may cause further damage to the lungs.

Therefore, it is important to watch for signs of infection and follow these tips to help prevent infections. You will probably not be able to avoid infections entirely, but these tips will help you prevent infections as much as possible.

What can I do to prevent infections?

Visitors
If visitors have cold or flu symptoms, ask them not to visit until they are feeling well.

Environment

1. Keep your house clean and free from excess dust. Keep your bathrooms and sinks free from mold or mildew.
2. Do not work in or visit any form of construction site. Dust can be harmful. If you absolutely must go near this type of area, wear a mask provided by your doctor.
3. Avoid air pollution, including tobacco smoke, wood or oil smoke, car exhaust fumes and industrial pollution which can cause inhaled irritants to enter your lungs. Also avoid pollen.
4. Make sure your cooking vent is working properly so cooking fumes can be drawn out of the house.
5. If possible, try to stay away from large crowds in the fall and winter when the flu season is at its peak.

Equipment care

1. Keep breathing equipment clean.
2. Do not let others use your medical equipment, including: oxygen cannula, metered dose inhaler (MDI), MDI spacer, nebulizer tubing and mouthpiece.

Diet

1. Try to eat a balanced diet. Good nutrition is important to help the body resist infection. Eat foods from all the food groups.
2. Drink plenty of fluids - at least 6 to 8 eight-ounce glasses per day (unless your doctor gives you other guidelines). Water, juices and sports drinks are best.

Hand washing

Frequently wash your hands with soap and warm water, especially before preparing food, eating, taking medications or breathing treatments; and after coughing or sneezing, using the bathroom, touching soiled linens or clothes, and after you've been around someone with a cold or the flu as well as after you've been at a social gathering.

Other general health guidelines

• Do not rub your eyes, as this can transmit germs to your nasal passages via the tear ducts.
• Quitting smoking and avoiding second-hand smoke (the smoke from a burning cigarette or cigar and the smoke exhaled by a smoker) are important steps you can take to protect your lungs from infection.
• Follow your doctor's medication guidelines.
• Get enough sleep and rest.
• Manage your stress! 
• Talk to your doctor or health care provider about getting a flu shot every year and get the pneumonia vaccine if you have not had one.
• Be careful to avoid infection when traveling. In areas where the water might be unsafe, drink bottled water or other beverages (order beverages without ice). Swim only in chlorinated pools.

When should I call my doctor?

Call your doctor if you experience any of the warning signs of an infection (listed below). Also call your doctor if you have any symptoms that cause concern.

Warning signs of infection

While most infections can be successfully treated, you must be able to recognize an infection's immediate symptoms for proper and effective care.

• Increased shortness of breath, difficulty breathing or wheezing
• Coughing up increased amounts of mucus
• Yellow- or green-colored mucus (may or may not be present)
• Fever (temperature over 101°F) or chills (may or may not be present)
• Increased fatigue or weakness
• Sore throat, scratchy throat or pain when swallowing
• Unusual sinus drainage, nasal congestion, headaches or tenderness along upper cheekbones

If you have any of these symptoms, contact your physician right away, even if you don't feel sick.

Avoiding irritants

The lungs of people with COPD are sensitive to certain irritating substances in the air, such as: cigarette smoke, exhaust fumes, strong perfumes, cleaning products, paint/varnish, dust, pollen, pet dander and air pollution. Extreme cold or hot weather conditions can also irritate your lungs.

You can avoid some of these irritants by:

• Asking those around you not to smoke.
• Sitting in non-smoking sections of public places.
• Requesting smoke-free hotel rooms and rental cars.
• Avoiding underground parking garages.
• Avoiding high traffic or industrialized areas.
• Not using perfumes, scented lotions or other highly scented products that may irritate your lungs.
• Using non-aerosol cleaning or painting products in well-ventilated areas and wearing a mask or handkerchief over your mouth when cleaning (dusting, vacuuming, sweeping) or working in the yard.
• Reducing exposure to dust by regularly changing filters on heaters and air conditioners and using a dehumidifier.
• Keeping pets out of the house, especially if you wheeze.
• Using an exhaust fan when cooking to remove smoke and odors.
• Staying indoors when the outside air quality is poor and pollen counts are high.
• Following weather reports and avoiding extreme weather. During cold weather, cover your face when going outdoors. During extreme humidity, try to stay in air conditioned areas.