Annotated Case Study Nursing Care Plan

Patient care for the RN requires a holistic view of the patient. Although Mr Brown is admitted for knee replacement surgery, the nursing care will also take into consideration, Mr Brown’s co-morbidites and the impact of these on his recovery following surgery. Elderly patient’s with COPD have a higher mortality rate, this can be related to the medications used in anesthetics and the effect on the pulmonary system (Gruber & Tschernko., 2015). Medications used through the surgery may impact on the lungs by altering how the patient breathes and what muscles they are using to breath. If the patient is on a mechanical breathing device, there is a high chance of altered gas exchange through the alveoli and a risk of a collapsed lung or partial collapse