Postoperative breathing pamphlet

Postoperative breathing that I made for a teaching learning project in nursing school.

1. Incentive
Spirometry
Why is this important
after surgery?
Breathing
Exercises
after Surgery
What is an incentive
spirometer for?
An incentive spirometer
teaches patients how to deep
breathe because when using
properly, your breaths will
mimic natural sighing and
yawning and encourage you to
take slow, deep breaths. It
examines the health of your
lungs by measuring inspiratory
volume and showing how well
you are filling your lungs with
each breath. The incentive
spirometer is used in hospitals
to measure airflow and air
volume and to exercise the
lungs of patients after surgery.
Coughing and deep
breathing exercises are
important after surgery because
they help to clear the airways
and the lungs. This helps to
prevent pneumonia and other
postsurgical respiratory
problems.
After surgery, patients
do not always clear their
airways normally because of
the pain they experience.
Therefore it is important to
cough and deep breathe to clear
the mucus from the airways.
! " ! "
The importance of coughing
and deep breathing and
incentive spirometry after
surgery
Edgewood College School of
Nursing
1000 Edgewood College Dr.
Madison, WI 53711
http://www.edgewood.edu/Academi
cs/SchoolofNursing.aspx
! "

2. Coughing and Deep Breathing Exercises
1
Deep breathing is very important to your
health. It helps open the air sacs in the lungs and
keeps your lungs and airways clear. Breathing
often changes and becomes shallow when you are
moving very little, you are on bed rest, or you have
pain after surgery. To avoid the pain experienced
with coughing and deep breathing exercises you
can ask for pain medication and use a pillow to
splint your abdomen.
Practice this deep breathing exercise every
hour.
1.Place your hand on your stomach.
2.Breathe in deeply and slowly through your
nose. Push out your stomach as you
breathe in.
3.Hold your breath for 3 seconds.
1.Sit up as straight as possible.
2.Hold the incentive
spirometer upright.
3.Exhale normally.
4.Put your mouth around the
mouthpiece and tightly seal
your lips.
5.Breathe in slowly and
deeply. (This will raise the
piston to the top of the
column- your goal is to get it
in the little box.
6.Hold your breath as long as
possible (at least 5 seconds)
and let the piston fall.
7.Position the indicator on the
outside of the column to
mark your best effort. This
will be your goal each time.
8.Rest for a few seconds and
repeat.
9.Do this several times and
hour while you are awake.
10.Try to cough a few times
afterwards to clear your
lungs.
2
4.Breathe out all the air slowly through your
mouth.
5.Repeat 3 times.
Coughing after deep breathing is also
important in keeping your lungs clear. Cough
several times after completing the deep breathing
exercises.
1.Make sure you are sitting upright and
relax your shoulders.
2.Cough from deep in the lungs, not a
shallow throat cough.
How to use an
Incentive Spirometer
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