Influence of early nursing intervention on prevention of lung infection secondary to severe brain injury

Abstract

Objective To investigate the influence of early nursing intervention on prevention of lung infection secondary to severe brain injury. Methods 50 patients with severe brain injury who had been hospitalized during the period of January 2006 to January 2008 were assigned to the control group and received routine care; and the other 50 who had been treated during the period of February 2008 to April 2010 were assigned to the intervention group. For the latter group, in addition to routine care, we administered predictable care immediately after nursing assessment, disinfected air regularly, maintained clean environment, enhanced airway management, turned the patients over and tapped their back regularly to keep the airway clear, administered inhalation therapy with medicine by a nebulizer, strengthened oral care and disinfection of goods, and strictly performed aseptic technique. The effectiveness of prevention of lung infection, and the incidence rate and the efficacy of treatment were compared between the two groups. Results The incidence of lung infection was significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group ( P＜ 0.05 ), and the efficacy was better in the intervention group ( P ＜ 0.01 ). Conclusions Early nursing intervention can effectively prevent the genesis of lung infection secondary to severe brain injury and reduce the mortality rate, playing an important role in accelerating rehabilitation and in improveing quality of life in patients. Key words: Nursing intervention; Brain injury, Lung infection