Discussion Post
Define and summarize one of the following. Support your answer with two or three peer-reviewed resources.
• Pulmonary function tests, including discussion of how tests are ordered, why specific tests are ordered, and how the test results are interpreted.
• Thoracentesis, including discussion of the indications, lab tests needed prior to the procedure, and lab tests that can be ordered based on the resulting pleural fluid.
• Explain exudative versus transudative fluid with respect to pleural fluid.
• Describe a VATS procedure.
• Explain what atypical pneumonias are and how they are treated.
• Explain "amiodarone lung."
• Discuss various sources that may serve as etiologies for asbestos exposure. Keep in mind that many patients are elderly, and some of their exposures no longer exist as a result of OSHA but can still create lung disease.
• Explain what chemical, pharmaceutical, or environmental exposures can be harmful to the pulmonary system historically and currently.
• Differentiate hemothorax and pneumothorax (including spontaneous and traumatic).
• Explain pneumonitis: how it occurs, presents, including imaging findings, is treated.
• Explain how COPD can result in a pneumothorax.
• Discuss indications for bronchoscopy and how the patient must be prepared for this procedure, including coagulation studies, readiness for sedation, and airway invasion.
• Explain the process of liberating a patient from a ventilator.
• Explain at what point a ventilator patient must be converted from an endotracheal tube to a tracheostomy tube.
The response must include a reference list. Using Times New Roman 12 pnt font, double-space, one-inch margins, and APA style of writing and citations.