hospital acquired pneumonia is as the name suggests a type of pneumonia that
is acquired inside of the hospital we created this video to cover the medical definition and
provide a brief overview of this topic so if you're ready let's get into it
pneumonia is an infection that causes inflammation in the lungs and results in fluid buildup fever
cough and difficulty breathing it's caused by a variety of different organisms including
viruses bacteria fungi and even parasites in some cases when this disease is contracted
inside of the hospital as previously mentioned it is referred to as hospital-acquired pneumonia
the other types of pneumonia include community-acquired
ventilator associated and aspiration pneumonia as you may have guessed the specific type of
pneumonia is classified according to how the patient acquires the disease
community acquired pneumonia is when the patient gets it outside of the hospital ventilator
associated pneumonia is when it's acquired while the patient is on the mechanical ventilator and
aspiration pneumonia is acquired when a patient aspirates bacteria into the lungs usually from
food saliva or stomach acid but for this video we're focusing more on hospital acquired pneumonia
for it to classify as this type the patient must acquire the infection more than 48 hours after
being admitted to the hospital this is how we can differentiate it from community acquired pneumonia
you should also know that a pneumonia infection can vary from mild to severe depending on the
patient signs and symptoms some examples to look for include a productive cough fever and
chills tachymnia shortness of breath chest pain diaphoresis fatigue and cyanosis being able to
recognize the signs and symptoms is important for the diagnosis treatment and patient outcome in
general hospital-acquired pneumonia is often more severe because usually the patient is already sick
enough to require hospital admission in some cases these patients are more susceptible due to an
already weakened immune system and unfortunately hospital-acquired pneumonia is often spread to the
patient by healthcare workers when they pass germs from their hands clothes or instruments
this can be avoided with proper hand washing ppe and other safety measures switching gears
just a bit now let's talk about the treatment pneumonia in general should be treated on a
case-by-case basis here are some of the most common treatment methods antibiotic medications
oxygen therapy bed rest airway clearance therapy hyperinflation therapy and fluid management
each patient may require different treatment modalities depending on their signs and symptoms
and in severe cases intubation and mechanical ventilation may be indicated
again for this video we just wanted to provide you with a brief overview of this topic
we'll be breaking it down into much more detail in a separate video real quick guys do me a huge
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have a ton of other videos on our channel that i think you will enjoy just a quick reminder we are
not doctors this video is for educational and informational purposes only and if you want to
dive deeper and learn more about this topic you can go to respiratorytherapyzone.com where we
have a ton of free study guides practice questions and other helpful resources
i'll drop links to everything you need right below this video down in the description thank you so
much for watching all the way to the end have a blessed day and as always real easy my friend
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you