Principles of Respiratory & Thoracic Care

Our course will enhance your understanding and knowledge of how to care for a patient spanning both the acute and chronic respiratory spectrum. It will enhance your understanding as to the complexity of Respiratory Diseases/ illnesses, and will increase your knowledge in relation to current assessment and management options. Finally you will have an increased understanding as to the importance of working with other members of the multidisciplinary team and consider the impact of living with a respiratory disease upon patients, carers and the NHS.

The ‘Burden of Lung Disease’ (British Thoracic Society 2000,2006) highlighted the huge health and economic burden of respiratory illness. In the UK respiratory disease kills 1 in 5 people, more women die of lung cancer than breast cancer and premature mortality from COPD is twice as high in the UK than in Europe. The current and future impacts of respiratory disease in the UK is concerning, this means there is a need for specialist knowledge and skills in order to deliver high-quality evidence based healthcare. This module will improve your current understanding, knowledge, management and assessment of respiratory diseases. It will enhance your understandings of the impact of respiratory disease and illness, upon patients, carers, family and the NHS. Your knowledge of treatment options available will be enhanced as Respiratory pharmacology, Oxygen therapy, Non-Invasive Ventilation Therapy and Thoracic surgery are samples of that which is included with this module’s content.

You’ll be a registered nurse working on a respiratory ward, in thoracic surgery, or in critical care. You’ll understand the demand for specialist nursing skills in this area, and you’ll be keen to meet the challenges and demands of caring for patients across the acute and chronic spectrum.

Assessment

There are two forms of assessment to this module. One is completion of a practical portfolio undertaken in practice with an identified clinical mentor. The second is a poster presentation that is relative to an area of care within your working environment, chosen by students.