Routine Dyspnea Assessment on Unit Admission

Abstract

OVERVIEW Dyspnea assessment is valuable in diagnosis, prognosis, symptom management, and targeted intervention, and in the allotment and management of patient care resources. The assessment of dyspnea, like that of pain, depends on patient self-report. Expert consensus panels have called for dyspnea to be measured quantitatively and documented on a routine basis, as is the practice with pain. But little information is available on how to measure and record dyspnea ratings systematically. Consequently, the prevalence of dyspnea in hospital settings may be greater than is generally recognized, and dyspnea may be insufficiently managed. This article describes a pilot study that sought to test the feasibility of measuring dyspnea as part of the initial patient assessment performed by nurses within several inpatient units of a large urban hospital.

What's trending in breathlessness research? Proceedings from the 8th Annual Meeting of the Breathlessness Research Interest Group

“…Efforts are being made to improve the methods used to measure dyspnoea and determine the ideal frequency of measurement. 23 Dyspnoea is becoming recognised as a 'vital symptom' that impacts on patient outcomes.…”

Dyspnea in palliative care: nursing records and self-assessment of dyspnea

“…Assim, sabendo que os enfermeiros não dispõem de escalas de avaliação da dispneia no SAPE®, nem recorrem às mesmas para a avaliação da intensidade da dispneia do doente, pode afirmar-se que os enfermeiros diagnosticam corretamente a dispneia em repouso e a dispneia funcional, mesmo sem recurso a uma escala de avaliação específica. Segundo o estudo de Baker et al (2013) Por fim, pode concluir-se que a questão de investigação lançada e os objetivos propostos para este estudo foram respetivamente respondidos e obtidos. Emergem, no entanto, algumas reflexões.…”

“…As vantagens deste processo são várias. Por um lado, uma avaliação quantitativa precoce e frequente da dispneia permite um melhor controlo da mesma, alívio do sofrimento e diminuição da possibilidade de agravamento da doença (Baker et al, 2013). Por outro lado, permite registos de enfermagem (RE) mais fidedignos e relacionados com as queixas do doente e, por conseguinte, possibilita intervenções de enfermagem mais adequadas às necessidades da pessoa.…”

Should we measure dyspnoea in everyone?

“…A growing body of evidence suggests that routine measurement and documentation of dyspnea would have clinical value disproportionate to the minimal effort needed to obtain the data. Our group has shown that routine nursing measurement of dyspnea in hospitalized patients is feasible, and that it may provide useful risk prediction [25-27] …”