Nursing Care Of Patients with COVID-19 Pneumonia with Respiratory Failure: Two Case Comparative Studies

Abstract

COVID-19 virus damaged the respiratory system from nasal cavity down to alveoli. It had special characteristic of causing severe disease, able to stimulated inflammatory reactions, as a result: the infection spreads quickly to alveoli, and there were increase severity in the patients with any underlying disease and the elderly. The nurses must be provided these patients received adequate oxygen, provided the antiviral drugs in a timely manner, observed, assessed changes symptom, and prepared to rescue at all the times to help the patients survived.

Objective: The purpose to study nursing care of the patients with COVID-19 pneumonia with respiratory failure by comparing two case studies.

Methods: The methods were selecting case studies of the patients with COVID-19 pneumonia with respiratory failure, who were admitted for treatment in airborne infection isolation room, Khon Kaen Hospital. The data were collected between March to May 2022. The data analysis accordance with the concept of nursing process and holistic care.

Result: Both men patients were treated with oxygen through an endotracheal tube with ventilator. They received the treatment in a disease-specific isolation room with disease control standards, received the antiviral drug Remdesivir and venous thromboembolism prophylaxis was Enoxaparin. The first case aged 37 years, was the patient with AIDS, initial symptoms include low fever and dyspnea, received anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal medication. The symptoms respectively improved, able to be weaned off the ventilator and discharged by length of stay for 11 days. The second case aged 74 years, was the patient with stroke, hypertension and diabetes mellitus, initial symptoms include runny nose, cough and dyspnea. He was treated at the under network hospital, had repeated bacterial infections, refer in to treatment, received several types of antibacterial drugs, treatment for congestive heart failure, hypertension and diabetes mellitus until symptoms improve. The symptoms respectively improved, able to be weaned off the ventilator and discharged by length of stay for 23 days.

Conclusion: The important nursing care for patients with COVID-19 pneumonia was the preventing the spread of pathogen from the patients to themselves and others. The nurses must be provided nursing care to patients in accordance with doctor, in a specially controlled isolation room to keep the patients safe from the complications and cured of disease, advised the patients to isolate and quarantine those who have been under treatment for less than 21 days to prevent the spread of infection to others peoples while the discharge.