Compliance
- Does the patient actually take his/her medicine?
- Does it interfere with his/her daily activities?
- Does the patient know when to use each of his/her inhalers?
- Does he/she use preventer medicines all the time to prevent an attack?
- Does he/she know the risks of non-compliance with his/her medicine and understand inadequate symptom control?
- Would a combination inhaler be more appropriate?
- Is the formulation appropriate?
- Is a spacer required?
- Is a Haleraid needed?
Ask the patient to demonstrate his/her inhaler technique to ensure appropriate use. Use an In-Check Dial if available or ask the patient to demonstrate how they use their reliever inhaler. Common problems include inhaling the MDI too quickly.
Reflection exercise
It is important to understand how to use each of the different inhaler devices and spacers available so that you can check a patient's inhaler technique.
€¢ Are you familiar with each of the different inhaler and spacer devices?
€¢ Could you confidently counsel a patient on each of these devices?
€¢ Would you know which spacer to recommend for each age group?
Record your learning
Once you have read this article, use the following CPD questions to help you reflect on what you have learned and how it might affect your everyday work. Remember to record your learning on the GPhC website if you are registered (www.uptodate.org.uk). Otherwise, it is good practice to record it in your ongoing learning and development folder.
€¢ What did I learn that was new? (Evaluate)
€¢ How have I put this into practice? (Provide examples of how learning has been applied.) (Evaluate)
€¢ Do I need to learn anything else in this area? (Reflect)