Which is the priority need that must be included in the nursing care for a child with pneumonia?

How is pneumonia treated?

In most cases, children with bacterial pneumonia are given oral antibiotics and are able to stay home to rest and recover. The type of antibiotic used depends on the type of pneumonia. In some cases, other members of the household might be treated with medication to prevent illness.

Pneumonia due to flu virus can be treated with anti-viral medications within the first 2 or 3 days of symptoms. For other viruses that cause pneumonia, there are no medications. In these cases, supportive measures like keeping your child hydrated, controlling any fever, and treating wheezing or oxygen need are used until the body can overcome the infection by itself.

If your doctor prescribed antibiotics, give the medicine on schedule for as long as directed. This will help your child recover faster and will decrease the chance that infection will spread to other household members. For wheezing, a doctor might recommend using a nebulizer or inhaler.

Ask your doctor before you use non-prescribed medicine to treat your child's cough because cough suppressants stop the lungs from clearing mucus, which may not be helpful in pneumonia. Over-the-counter cough and cold medications are not recommended for kids under 6 years old. Take your child's temperature at least once each morning and each evening, and call the doctor if it goes above 102ºF (38.9ºC) in an older infant or child or above 100.4ºF (38ºC) in an infant under 6 months of age. Check your child's lips and fingernails to make sure that they are rosy and pink, not bluish or gray, which is a sign that the lungs are not getting enough oxygen.

Children may be hospitalized for treatment if they have pneumonia if:

  • They need supplemental oxygen
  • They have lung infections that may have spread to the bloodstream
  • They have chronic illnesses that affect the immune system
  • They are vomiting so much that they cannot take medicine by mouth or are dehydrated

How can pneumonia be prevented?

Some types of pneumonia can be prevented by vaccines. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants and children receive routine immunizations against Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenza, which are the two most common bacterial causes of pneumonia. Children should be vaccinated against pertussis, also called whooping cough, beginning at 2 months of age. 

Yearly influenza virus vaccines are also recommended for the prevention of pneumonia. Children with chronic respiratory diseases may also receive an additional immunization against Streptococcus pneumoniae in order to further prevent pneumonia. Antiviral medication is now available, and can be used to treat some types of viral pneumonia or to make symptoms less severe.

Why choose Children's Colorado for your child's pneumonia?

Children's Colorado Breathing Institute's mission is to provide comprehensive clinical care and consultation for children with common and complex breathing problems. Our experts and facilities are prepared to diagnose and treat children with pneumonia. Our multidisciplinary approach means we will communicate about treatments with your child's primary care physician and any other specialists your child may need.

As a regional care center, the Breathing Institute provides professional education and advancement of knowledge through research. Our doctors are responsible for discoveries in pulmonary medicine, including the first use of inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) to treat a premature infant with respiratory failure.

The latest in diagnostic testing is available for both infants and older children, and an experienced staff of pediatric specialists to include physicians, nurses, dietitians, social workers and respiratory therapists allows families to benefit from the team approach to treating breathing disorders. Our collaborative approach to breathing and lung care incorporates and encourages family involvement.

Pneumonia is a form of acute respiratory infection that affects the lungs. The lungs are made up of small sacs called alveoli, which fill with air when a healthy person breathes. When an individual has pneumonia, the alveoli are filled with pus and fluid, which makes breathing painful and limits oxygen intake.

Pneumonia is the single largest infectious cause of death in children worldwide. Pneumonia killed 740 180 children under the age of 5 in 2019, accounting for 14% of all deaths of children under five years old but 22% of all deaths in children aged 1 to 5. Pneumonia affects children and families everywhere, but deaths are highest in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Children can be protected from pneumonia, it can be prevented with simple interventions, and treated with low-cost, low-tech medication and care.

Causes

Pneumonia is caused by a number of infectious agents, including viruses, bacteria and fungi. The most common are:

  • Streptococcus pneumoniae – the most common cause of bacterial pneumonia in children;
  • Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) – the second most common cause of bacterial pneumonia;
  • respiratory syncytial virus is the most common viral cause of pneumonia;
  • in infants infected with HIV, Pneumocystis jiroveci is one of the most common causes of pneumonia, responsible for at least one quarter of all pneumonia deaths in HIV-infected infants.

Transmission

Pneumonia can be spread in a number of ways. The viruses and bacteria that are commonly found in a child's nose or throat, can infect the lungs if they are inhaled. They may also spread via air-borne droplets from a cough or sneeze. In addition, pneumonia may spread through blood, especially during and shortly after birth. More research needs to be done on the different pathogens causing pneumonia and the ways they are transmitted, as this is of critical importance for treatment and prevention.

Presenting features

The presenting features of viral and bacterial pneumonia are similar. However, the symptoms of viral pneumonia may be more numerous than the symptoms of bacterial pneumonia. In children under 5 years of age, who have cough and/or difficult breathing, with or without fever, pneumonia is diagnosed by the presence of either fast breathing or lower chest wall indrawing where their chest moves in or retracts during inhalation (in a healthy person, the chest expands during inhalation). Wheezing is more common in viral infections.

Very severely ill infants may be unable to feed or drink and may also experience unconsciousness, hypothermia and convulsions.

Risk factors

While most healthy children can fight the infection with their natural defences, children whose immune systems are compromised are at higher risk of developing pneumonia. A child's immune system may be weakened by malnutrition or undernourishment, especially in infants who are not exclusively breastfed.

Pre-existing illnesses, such as symptomatic HIV infections and measles, also increase a child's risk of contracting pneumonia.

The following environmental factors also increase a child's susceptibility to pneumonia:

  • indoor air pollution caused by cooking and heating with biomass fuels (such as wood or dung)
  • living in crowded homes
  • parental smoking.

Treatment

Pneumonia should be treated with antibiotics. The antibiotic of choice for first line treatment is amoxicillin dispersible tablets. Most cases of pneumonia require oral antibiotics, which are often prescribed at a health centre. These cases can also be diagnosed and treated with inexpensive oral antibiotics at the community level by trained community health workers. Hospitalization is recommended only for severe cases of pneumonia.

Prevention

Preventing pneumonia in children is an essential component of a strategy to reduce child mortality. Immunization against Hib, pneumococcus, measles and whooping cough (pertussis) is the most effective way to prevent pneumonia.

Adequate nutrition is key to improving children's natural defences, starting with exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life. In addition to being effective in preventing pneumonia, it also helps to reduce the length of the illness if a child does become ill.

Addressing environmental factors such as indoor air pollution (by providing affordable clean indoor stoves, for example) and encouraging good hygiene in crowded homes also reduces the number of children who fall ill with pneumonia.

In children infected with HIV, the antibiotic cotrimoxazole is given daily to decrease the risk of contracting pneumonia.

Economic costs

The cost of antibiotic treatment for all children with pneumonia in 66 of the countdown to 2015 countries for maternal, newborn and child survival is estimated at around US$ 109 million per year. The price includes the antibiotics and diagnostics for pneumonia management.

WHO response

The WHO and UNICEF integrated Global Action Plan for Pneumonia and Diarrhoea (GAPPD) aims to accelerate pneumonia control with a combination of interventions to protect, prevent, and treat pneumonia in children with actions to:

  • protect children from pneumonia including promoting exclusive breastfeeding and adequate complementary feeding;
  • prevent pneumonia with vaccinations, hand washing with soap, reducing household air pollution, HIV prevention and cotrimoxazole prophylaxis for HIV-infected and exposed children;
  • treat pneumonia focusing on making sure that every sick child has access to the right kind of care -- either from a community-based health worker, or in a health facility if the disease is severe -- and can get the antibiotics and oxygen they need to get well;

A number of countries including Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Uganda and Zambia have developed district, state and national plans to intensify actions for the control of pneumonia and diarrhoea. Many more have integrated diarrhoea and pneumonia specific action into their national child health and child survival strategies.

Effective diagnosis and treatment of pneumonia is critical to improve child survival. In order to meet the Sustainable Development Goal targets for SDG 3.2.1 - reducing child mortality - ending preventable diarrhoea and pneumonia-related deaths is an urgent priority. 

What is the nursing priority for a patient with pneumonia?

Nursing interventions for pneumonia and care plan goals for patients with pneumonia include measures to assist in effective coughing, maintaining a patent airway, decreasing viscosity and tenaciousness of secretions, and assisting in suctioning.

Which of the following priority for a patient diagnosed with pneumonia?

In the patient with pneumonia and early signs of respiratory distress, assess, and reassess periodically, the need for respiratory support (bilevel positive airway pressure, continuous positive airway pressure, intubation) (i.e., look for the need before decompensation occurs).

What is the management of pneumonia in children?

Treatment may include antibiotics for bacterial pneumonia. No good treatment is available for most viral pneumonias. They often get better on their own. Flu-related pneumonia may be treated with an antiviral medicine.

What nursing interventions can be taken to prevent pneumonia?

Several fundamental therapeutic nursing interventions—adhering to infection prevention standards, elevating the head of the bed 30 to 45 degrees to prevent aspiration, ensuring good oral hygiene (cleaning teeth, gums, tongue, dentures), increasing patient mobility with ambulation to three times a day as appropriate, ...