Assists the child expel mucus from his lungs. To do this, first assess his breath sounds, heart rate and respiratory rate. Then, sit the child up in bed to facilitate inhalation of his medication and increase the effectiveness of coughing to remove mucus. Administer nebulizer treatments to loosen up the mucus in his lungs. Your patient may cough after nebulizer treatment and cough up mucus from his lungs.
Assess your patients breath sounds after nebulizer treatment. Do this to check if the treatment was effective as evidenced by clearer breath sounds.
Monitor the child for hypoxia or decreased blood oxygen levels. Signs of hypoxia include restlessness, mood changes and low level of consciousness or a lack of alertness. Blue discoloration around the child's lips and nail beds are late indicators of hypoxia and need quick medical attention. Look for these signs and be aware of nursing interventions that can address them.
Provide nursing interventions for hypoxia. Put the child with cystic fibrosis in a high fowlers position to enable him breath better and improve chest expansion. Deliver oxygen as prescribed and monitor the child's oxygen saturation levels to make sure the child is adequately oxygenated.
Administer pancreatic enzymes as ordered. Children with cystic fibrosis may be unable to digest their food appropriately due to a lack of digestive enzymes from the pancreas. In cystic fibrosis, the ducts of the pancreas are blocked by thick mucus, so they are unable to empty digestive enzymes into the duodenum. Give the pancreatic enzymes with food for proper digestion of the meal and absorption of nutrients from the digested food.
Observe the cystic fibrosis child's stools for effectiveness of the pancreatic enzymes. The stool of a child with cystic fibrosis is foul smelling and bulky. If the pancreatic enzymes are effective, the stool should be of normal consistency and characteristic showing an increase in the proper digestion of ingested foods.
Administer fat soluble vitamins as prescribed. In cystic fibrosis, fat soluble vitamins such as vitamin A, D, E and K are passed out in stool because they cannot be absorbed in the intestines. Therefore, it is important to give the child his or her fat soluble vitamins.