A cough is a normal reflex or the body's response to throat irritation. Coughing helps to clear the throat and airways of germs, mucus, and dust. When an irritant stimulates the nerves, they transmit a signal to the brain, prompting it to activate the muscles in your chest and abdomen to push air out from the lungs in order to expel the irritant.
An occasional cough is normal. However, if you have a persistent cough lasting for several weeks or if it produces discolored or bloody mucus, or is accompanied by other symptoms such as fever, shortness of breath, or chest pain, it may be a sign of an underlying medical condition requiring professional attention.
Sometimes, coughing can be quite forceful. Prolonged and vigorous bouts of coughing can irritate the lungs, leading to further bouts of coughing. This can also result in fatigue, difficulty sleeping, dizziness, fainting, headaches, urinary incontinence, vomiting, and, in extreme cases, even fractured ribs.
Nursing Interventions
These nursing interventions are designed to help patients clear their airways and improve their breathing. Some common interventions include:
- Education: Teaching patients how to cough effectively is essential. This includes teaching them how to position themselves, inhale deeply, and exhale forcefully with their abdominal muscles.
- Hydration: Encouraging patients to drink plenty of fluids helps to thin secretions and make them easier to cough up.
- Positioning: Elevating the head of the bed and positioning the patient upright can help to improve drainage of secretions.
- Airway humidification: Humidified air can help to loosen secretions and make them easier to cough up.
- Chest physiotherapy: Chest physiotherapy techniques, such as percussion and vibration, can help to loosen secretions and move them towards the larger airways where they can be coughed up.
- Suctioning: Suctioning may be necessary to remove thick secretions from the airways of patients who are unable to cough effectively on their own.
- Medications: Medications such as bronchodilators and expectorants can help to open the airways and thin secretions.
In addition to these interventions, nurses can also provide comfort measures to patients, such as providing warm liquids, hard candy, and throat lozenges.