Pulmonary rehabilitation and self-care after ambulatory surgery

Over 30 million Americans are living with chronic lung disease in the United States. The long-term ongoing care required by these individuals is a major contributor to American health care costs. Clinicians caring for persons with chronic respiratory disease are faced with minimal time in which to prepare patients for adequate self-care abilities. Often times, the clinician may assume that all of the "bases have been covered." In reality, it is because this assumption is made that persons with chronic respiratory disease are often not receiving the full breadth of information that they need to increase their self-care abilities and optimize their quality of life. This article prepares the perianesthesia clinician to ensure that the important tenets of self-care information are addressed for the person with overt and/or underlying chronic respiratory disease.