The most important thing when treating pneumonia is to eliminate the pathogen (bacteria, virus or fungus) and control the symptoms. While in the hospital, the patient improved significantly but still needed to continue treatment at home to fully recover. Some patients were treated as outpatients from the beginning. At this time, family members need to know how to plan care for pneumonia patients, help them get healthy soon and avoid spreading the disease to the remaining members.
Usually, the patient’s health will improve after a week of treatment, but some people need a month or longer. Be extra cautious if taking care of patients who are young children, the elderly, immunocompromised people , diabetics or cirrhosis patients…
Things to do when caring for patients with pneumonia
Make sure they continue treatment as prescribed
Most pneumonia patients have to take many medications. These may include antibiotics (if the pneumonia is bacterial), antivirals (if the pneumonia is viral), antifungals (if the pneumonia is fungal), fever reducers, anti-inflammatory drugs, and expectorants. For each age, cause, and severity of the disease, there will be different prescriptions. Therefore, help patients use all types of medicine, in the right dosage, and on time.
When caring for patients with pneumonia, it is necessary to avoid making mistakes such as:
- Took the new antibiotic for a few days but found there were no more symptoms and stopped. This gives bacteria the opportunity to grow again and increases the risk of drug resistance later.
- Take medicine from adults for children to use. When planning care for children with pneumonia, you should not take adult medications for children to use because many drugs are contraindicated, or the dose must be adjusted for children of each age. Using without knowing these things will be very dangerous for children.
- Do not use cough medicine without your doctor’s permission. Coughing is the body’s way of expelling pathogens, and coughing hinders this process. If the cough is persistent, appears many nights and causes insomnia and weakness, you should call your doctor again for instructions on appropriate cough relief.
- When the medicine runs out, you should go back for a check-up to check if the lung infection is gone or not. If not, the doctor will prescribe additional appropriate medication. Do not arbitrarily refill old prescription drugs to use because this may increase the side effects/toxicity of some drugs.
- When planning the care of a pneumonia patient on an oxygen machine at home, make sure the patient breathes the correct amount of oxygen prescribed by the doctor, avoid smoking or placing heat sources near the oxygen tank.
Monitor the progression of symptoms, call your doctor when needed
At home, caring for a patient with pneumonia also requires constant monitoring of the patient to see if their symptoms are getting worse. If you see the following signs, take the patient to the hospital immediately:
- Shallow breathing, difficulty breathing, breathing rate increases more and more. You need to lean forward when sitting to find it easier to breathe
- Taking deep breaths causes chest pain
- Headaches more often
- Feeling sleepy, drowsy, confused
- Fever returns or fever does not go away after 3 days of taking medicine
- Coughing up blood or dark phlegm
- The fingertips and skin around the fingers are blue and purple.
In addition, call your doctor if your symptoms do not improve after 3 days or if you experience side effects from the medication.
Note that if you are taking care of a child with pneumonia, not all children will cough. Parents need to pay attention to symptoms of serious pneumonia in their children, such as wheezing and chest skin clinging tightly to the ribs when breathing. At this time, the child must be taken back to the hospital immediately.
Tips for caring for pneumonia patients, helping them reduce unpleasant symptoms
- Drink plenty of water and fluids (at least 1.5 – 2.5 liters per day) to help thin out phlegm. When lying down, you can pat your chest a few times a day to encourage mucus to move out of your lungs.
- Elevating your head when lying down and lying on your side will help significantly reduce shortness of breath.
- Drink warm water, take warm baths, and use an air humidifier or nebulizer in the room to open the airways and make breathing easier. Another tip in caring for patients with pneumonia, to help them breathe easily, is to place a warm, moist towel near the patient’s nose and mouth.
- When taking care of elderly people with pneumonia, remind and guide them to practice breathing, take a few deep breaths, repeat 2-3 times per hour. Breathing exercises help expand the lungs to improve lung health.
- Advise them to rest more in the beginning so their body can recover quickly. Once you feel better, you can let the patient help you with housework. Absolutely do not let them do strenuous work until they are completely cured.
- Ask the sick person not to smoke and help them stay away from cigarette smoke until they recover.
- Abstain from alcohol completely when not cured, then limit drinking to 1 drink for women and 2 drinks for men per day.
Prevent spreading pneumonia to other family members
Pneumonia patient care plans not only revolve around the individual with pneumonia, but also need to focus on the possibility of spreading the disease to the caregiver and other family members.
Pneumonia caused by bacteria , viruses and fungi can be spread through droplets when sick people cough or sneeze. So, before your doctor says the infection is gone, protect the rest of your family’s healthy family by:
- When planning to care for a person with pneumonia, you should put the patient in a separate room, remind them to use a tissue to cover their mouth when coughing or sneezing, then immediately put the tissue in a trash can with a tight lid.
- Clean their rooms with disinfectant every day
- Always wear a mask when in contact, wash your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds after taking care of pneumonia patients. Do not touch your face without washing your hands
- If you have children, the elderly, people with serious chronic diseases, or immunocompromised people, it is best to avoid contact with people with pneumonia.
- Eat a healthy, balanced diet full of fruits and vegetables; exercise 30 minutes daily; Get enough sleep to keep your immune system healthy
- In the long term, quit smoking as soon as possible and get vaccinated against flu and pneumococcal vaccine every year. These help reduce the risk of pneumonia significantly.
Fatigue and disease symptoms can cause people with pneumonia, especially those with severe illness, to be mentally depressed. Therefore, when taking care of pneumonia patients, family members should also maintain a positive attitude and continuously encourage them to feel more optimistic.
