Developing an Implementation Plan: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Introduction

Current investigations prove that COPD, its causes, and treatment methods are serious issues to analyze: within a short period of time, this disease becomes one of the main reasons of human deaths, and the most terrible fact is that the number of female deaths is increasing (Ilgin et al., 2010; Stahl et al., 2005). Nurses have to define clearly their duties and abilities, patients should be aware of the required precautionary methods and follow the suggestions to avoid the most terrible outcomes, and professionals should focus on the development of the strategies which will help to promote cooperation between nurses and smoking patients and define the most effective treatment. In this paper, one of the possible implementation plans for nurses and patients with COPD will be offered.

Implementation Plan: Outline

Methods of obtaining necessary approval and securing support

1. Evaluation of the current literature sources, statistical data, and real-life example should prove the urgency of the chosen problem and define COPD as a serious disease to investigate and diagnose as soon as possible;
2. Identification of personal readiness to develop a powerful project and presentation of independent works with the help of which captivating and urgent themes are discussed;
3. The creation of a special group the members of which are ready to protect the same ideas and methods will help to secure support from the fellow staff and prove that the chosen strategy may be effective;
4. The dates have to be clearly investigated: this implementation plan should show the results in one week as more people will know about the activities helpful to the patients with COPD and the necessity to find appropriate alternatives to smoking;
5. Investigations of the current technological achievements will help to define electronic cigarettes as the best alternative for patients with COPD: their dependence on smoking may be controlled by nurses, and government has to consider the importance of financial support to provide the patients in need with the required number of electronic cigarettes;
6. The introduction of a program for caregivers and patients to improve the conditions under which people with COPD have to live.

Description of the current issue

1. COPD is the disease that is not easy to diagnose at its early stages, still, its spreading throughout the human organism is fast and irreversible, this is why people have to know its main symptoms and special precautionary methods to decrease the chances to suffer from COPD;
2. Smoking is one of the major and the most dangerous causes of COPD, and women are under a threat to be diagnosed with COPD more frequently than men are;
3. Many women die because of COPD and overdue treatment as a result of their death birth rates are decreased considerably within a short period of time;
4. Air pollution is another significant cause of COPD, this is why people have to take the necessary measures to protect themselves and their generations and fight against the possibilities of being sick with COPD;
5. Certain ways on how to change the situation and decrease the number of cases when people with COPD die exist: people should be aware of the methods of how to protect their health and nurses should focus on the precautionary methods to be followed.

Detailed explanation of the proposed solution

1. The program that will improve living conditions for people with COPD is the major solution to be made under which a new process have to be supported: nurses and other caregivers should protect their patients and deprive them of a chance to start smoking that promotes the development of the disease;
2. The program under consideration should clearly identify the duties of caregivers and the activities which have to be taken on daily basis: nurses should not smoke or remind their patients about the idea of smoking, take care of media available for patients that may remind about smoking, and focus on the healthy actions with the help of which patients may promote their treatment;
3. There should be no exceptions for other medical staff in accordance to the program offered: a hospital is the place where people with COPD may be provided with the best conditions for patients, and nurses should recognize the importance of their activities;
4. The success of the program depends on how its participants understand their duties and each others’ needs, this is why it is necessary to provide nurses with a chance to be educated during their work and improve their knowledge accordingly.

Rationale for selecting proposed solution

1. To manage treatment for patients with COPD, nurses and other medical staff have to be trained properly and improve their knowledge from time to time considering new ideas, inventions, and offers, this is why the chosen program that is based on up-to-date modifications and requirements should be in demand;
2. The medical staff is not the only responsible part of caregiving, families of patients with COPD should also understand their duties and impact on a human life, this is why such activities like telephone contact between nurses, physicians, and family members is an integral part of a program;
3. Computer databases should be organized accordingly so that each member of a family or a nurse could find the required portion of information and help to provide a person with the necessary care;
4. It is important to develop this program gradually so that nurses and other caregivers may evaluate their skills, the situation, and the required steps;
5. Certain equipment is required (electronic cigarettes which may decrease the level of tobacco in the organism without some psychological changes, computer hardware, etc);
6. A nurse coordinator should follow the way of how the chosen strategy is implemented under the current conditions.

Evidences from literature sources

1. High quality of care depends on how nurses understand their duties and are aware of the guidelines prescribed by a particular institution, the work by Puffer and Rashidian (2004) may help to define the priority of nurses’ role;
2. Smoking is the reason of why so many people die because of COPD, this is why some attention should be paid to smoking cessation and the ways of how nurses could be helpful to patients (Hakesley-Brown, 2009).
3. Unfortunately, smoking is not the only reason of why so many people with COPD die, and it is urgent to focus on air pollutants and people’s participation in such kind of pollution.

Description of implementation logistics

1. The chosen program should be integrated within one week to a particular organization;
2. Nurses and family members should be aware of the importance to understand their duties and care for people with COPD;
3. Special training programs should take place two times per week (at the beginning of the week – to set purposes and define the activities, and at the end of the week – to analyze the results and discuss possible improvements);
4. There are several people who take care of the development of the strategy: the coordinator who works with nurses and check the quality of their work, the telephone administrator who provides people with necessary hints and ideas, and the contributor who is responsible for the financial aspect of the idea and attracts the attention of possible donators;
5. The program may be taken during the whole month, after the period is over, the outcomes are discussed and new goals are set.

Resources which are required for implementation

1. Staff: it is necessary to divide nurses into groups where the program is implemented and not to identify the effectiveness of the ideas;
2. Educational Material: PowerPoint presentations are more effective to attract the attention of the audience, make nurses and family members participate in discussions, and get credible guides to follow.
3. Technology: several electronic cigarettes for the patients with COPD (emotional aspect will be evaluated) and special database that aims at providing helpful tips for caregivers;
4. Funds: PowerPoint presentations are created by students independently to share their ideas and methods (such decision will help to save money), several e-cigarettes (their price is about $15-30), special technical support ($20), the coordinator (FTE – $60).

Conclusion

It is necessary to remember that the chosen program will be effective only in case it is implemented gradually two times per week during the whole months without any exceptions.

References

Hakesley-Brown, R. (2009). Brief interventions to reduce tobacco-related diseases. Nursing Standard, 23 (28), 43-47.

Ilgin, D., Ozalevli, S., Arif, C., & Ucan, E. (2010). Gender effect on the use of Modified Borg and Visual Analog Scales in the evaluation of dyspnoea in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 26 (1), 76-81.

Puffer, S. & Rashidian, A. (2004). Practice nurses’ intentions to use clinical guidelines. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 47 (5), 500-509.

Schikowski, T., Ranft, U., Sugiri, D., & Harth, V. (2010). Decline in air pollution and change in prevalence in respiratory symptoms and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in elderly women. Respiratory Research, 11, 113-123.

Stahl, E., Lindberg, A., & Jansson, S.A. (2005). Health-related quality of life is related to COPD disease severity. Health & Quality of Life Outcomes, 3, 56-59.