COMPARISON OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LATERAL POSITION AND SUPINE POSITION ON PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS AND COMFORT AMONG PATIENTS WITH RESPIRATORY TRACT INFECTION

Background:Standard nursing care for critically ill patients includes lateral positioning. A therapeutic regimen of lateral positioning may reduce the adverse effects of prolonged bed rest and to improve oxygenation in patients with unilateral lung disease and decrease the length of stay in the intensive care unit. Physiological adaptations mainly due to the effect of gravity occurs during changes of position and can influence the symptoms of various diseases involving not only the circulatory system but also other systems like respiratory system and digestive system. Objectives:1) To assess the effectiveness of lateral position on physiological parameters and comfort among clients with respiratory tract infection.2).To assess the effectiveness of supine position on physiological parameters and comfort among clients with respiratory tract infection.3) To compare the effectiveness of lateral position and supine position on physiological parameters and comfort among clients with respiratory tract infection. Methods:The research approach adopted for the study was quantitative comparative experimental approach study, the research design used was Repeated Measure design. By using non probability purposive sampling 40 respiratory patients admitted in ICUs of Wanless Hospital .The content validity and reliability of the tool was done , which was suggested that the tool was reliable(r=0.70). Result:The major findings revealed that, Effectiveness of lateral position followed by supine position to see the physiological parameter is done by observational checklist (heart rate, respiratory rate, spo2, tidal volume)was significant but BP was not significant. Comfort by Likert scale was highly significant (p<0.0001). Statistical analysis is done by (paired and unpaired t test) Result showed that lateral position had significantly higher mean Pao2 than the supine position (p<0.0001) Thus findings reveals that H1 is accepted and null hypothesis is rejected. Conclusion:Lateral position was found to be effective in respiratory tract infection patients which gave a significant change in physiological parameters and comfort compared to supine position.