Use of Incentive Spirometers

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Use of Incentive Spirometers
Sheila Aranda Spokane Community College
November 1, 2012

Evidence Based Nursing Practice The purpose and direction of this paper is to first choose a nursing procedure that is commonly used on the nursing unit where I was assigned for my Capstone experience. There is a brief description of the care unit. The reason why I chose this particular procedure for my paper. Then I describe the process of finding the hospital’s policy on performing this individual nursing procedure. Was the hospital up to current practice standards? Followed by an observation of a registered nurse performing the identified procedure and did it deviate from standards. What should the proper response be when you as a registered nurse discovers an unsafe practice. In conclusion reflect on the opportunities and challenges of evidence based nursing practice and implementation into actual bedside nursing practice.
A nursing procedure that is commonly used is the incentive spirometer. My capstone experience was at Providence St. Joseph's Hospital where there are 25 acute care beds and 40 long-term care beds, with primary and OB/GYN physicians available. I was assigned to the acute care unit where the nurse I shadowed has an average of six patients this can be swing or in care.
The reason I choose this procedure was to find out if nurses were wasting time and valuable resources on an intervention that does or does not work. Many misconceptions surround the exact purpose and effect of incentive spirometer in preventing respiratory complications. Current clinical guidelines outline a broad spectrum of uses for the incentive spirometer, particularly as a preventative and treatment for postoperative complications such as atelectasis, hypoxemia, and subsequent pneumonia. Incentive spirometer is designed to mimic natural sighing or yawning by encouraging the

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