According to the description of Tom’s health condition and symptoms, it seems that the nurse should refer the patient to both physician and respiratory physiotherapist. Either of the two healthcare professionals will be able to adequately assess the risks of the patient’s condition and take up effective measures for improving his state. Treatment of respiratory distress symptoms is aimed at increasing the levels of oxygen in the blood and providing breathing support to the patient (Cutts et al., 2017.). It can be prescribed only by specialists related to pulmonology.
The physician will be able to assess the symptoms the patient has as well as his current health conditions, and, being a professional of a wide profile, they can prescribe an effective treatment. The lung physiotherapist can either confirm or refute the diagnosis given by the physician. Moreover, if the patient is unable to breathe on his own, this specialist can provide the patient with breathing support by placing him on a mechanical ventilator (Cutts et al., 2017). The collaboration between the physician and the lung physiotherapist will help treat not only the clinical manifestations of respiratory distress but also its underlying cause.
Thus, the allied collaborative management strategy for treating the patient who has respiratory distress is built on the cooperation between the physician and lung physiotherapist. They carefully examine the patient to establish the cause of his poor health conditions and prescribe treatment to ease the symptoms and cure the underlying cause of the disease (Cutts et al., 2017). The physician may prescribe him medications to relieve the patient’s pain, while the lung physiotherapist is responsible for providing him with ventilation support to increase the levels of oxygen in the blood. When speaking about the role of the nursing staff in the treatment process, it is necessary to mention that they will monitor the patient’s state and report its improvement or deterioration. Apart from that, nurses will help the patients during the procedures prescribed by the doctor.
Reference
Cutts, S., Talboys, R., Paspula, C., Prempeh, E. M., Fanous, R. & Ali, D. (2017). Adult respiratory stress syndrome. Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 99(1), 12-16.