Peak Flow Meters

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Peak Flow Meters

• MANAGING THE ASTHMATIC STUDENT DURING SCHOOL
  HOURS
• BY
• Carla D. Martin, BSN, RN

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Major Public Health Issue

• Nearly 5 million children have asthma.
• It is one of the most common childhood illnesses.
• It is a leading cause of school absences.

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What Is Asthma?

• It is the Greek word for panting.
• It is an inflammatory lung condition in which the
  airways become blocked or narrowed.
• The muscles surrounding the bronchial tubes of
  the lungs go into spasm, the mucus lining swells,
  and secretions build up, making breathing
  difficult.

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Signs And Symptoms

• It is characterized by
• Coughing
• Wheezing
• Chest tightening
• Shortness of breath
• Coughing at night or after
  physical activity

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National Association Of School Nurses (NASN)

• Believes that effective management of childhood
  asthma includes four components

• Regularly assessing monitoring asthma including
  use of objective measures of lung functioning.
• Controlling factors that triggers asthma episodes
  and contribute to asthma severity.
• Adequately managing asthma with pharmacologic
  therapy.
• Educating asthma students and their parents to
  become partners in their own care.

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What Is A Peak Flow Meter?

• A peak flow meter helps the student check how
  well their asthma is controlled. Peak flow
  meters are most helpful for people with moderate
  or severe asthma.

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The Benefits From Using A Peak Flow Meter

• If daily medications require adjustments, a peak
  flow meter can be an important part of asthma
  management.
• Children as young as three years old can use a
  peak flow meter.
• It can show when a persons asthma is getting
  worse (Changes shown before student even feels
  them).

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The Benefits From Using A Peak Flow Meter (cont)

• It can help the student, parents and doctor
  identify causes of asthma at school, home or
  play.
• It can be used during an asthma episode
  (determining the severity of the episode).

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How To Use A Peak Flow Meter

• 1) Move the marker to the bottom of the number
  scale.
• 2) Stand up or sit up straight.
• 3) Take a deep breath. Fill your lungs all the
  way.
• 4) Hold your breath while you place the
  mouthpiece in your mouth, between your teeth.
  Close your lips around it.
• DO NOT PUT YOUR TONGUE INSIDE OF THE HOLE.

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HOW TO USE A PEAK FLOW METER (CONT)
How To Use A Peak Flow Meter (cont)

• 5) Blow out as hard and fast as you can.
• Your peak flow meter will measure how
• fast you can blow out air.
• 6) Write down the number. If you cough or
• make a mistake, DO NOT write down
• the number. Do it over again.

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HOW TO USE A PEAK FLOW METER (CONT)
How To Use A Peak Flow Meter (cont)

• 7) Repeat steps one through six two more
• times. Write down the highest of the
• three numbers. This is your peak flow
• number.
• 8) Check to see which peak flow zone your
• peak number is in. Do the actions your
• doctor told you to do while in that zone.

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Peak Flow Zones
Peak Flow Zones

• A students peak flow zones are based on their
  personal best peak flow number. The zones will
  help keep check of their asthma and take right
  actions to keep it controlled.

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GREEN ZONE(Good) 80 to 100 percent of Personal
Best
YELLOW ZONE(Caution)50 to 79 percent of
Personal Best
RED ZONE(Danger)Below 50 percent of Personal
Best
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The Peak Flow Meter And The School Nurse

• Peak flow monitoring provides the only objective
  assessment of asthma severity outside of those
  available when visiting their doctors
• Many individuals with asthma underestimate the
  severity of their asthma, peak flow monitoring is
  critical for successfully achieving the goals of
  asthma management
• www.SchoolAsthmaAllergy.com

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REMEMBER !!!

• Due to long gaps in between seeing their doctors,
  the school nurse is the only health care
  professional that is capable of seeing a student
  with asthma on an almost daily basis, if
  necessary.
• www.SchoolAsthmaAllergy.com

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REFERENCES
References

• WWW.AmericanLungAssociation.org
• http//www.epa.gov/iag/schools/managingasthma.html
  
• www.lungusa.org
• http//www.nasn.org/
• www.SchoolAsthmaAllergy.com