Leavitt Williams

English 2010

Profile

For many, Utah inversions are a mild inconvenience that warrants very slight changes to

one’s daily habits. However, for Margaret Williams, a MSCCC-SLP, (Master of Science with a

Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech Language Pathology) extra precautions are

required for her patients in order to achieve the highest level of medical care. Nearly 15% or 1 in

7 middle-aged and older adults suffer from a lung disorder such as: Asthma, COPD, emphysema,

and pneumonia (WebMD, 2015). Mrs. Williams works with many patients; most are elderly

patients that suffer from such health issues. While many residents of Utah can go about their day

normally during bad air quality days, the reality is that a large portion of the population is

advised to stay indoors during such times or risk health complications.

A normal day for Margaret Williams at the skilled nursing facility consists of evaluating

10-15 patients on their respiratory, swallowing, eating, nutritional, cognition, speech, and voice

ability. After evaluations, she is expected to write progress reports on their current condition,

plans for rehabilitation, and discharge any patients who are healthy enough to return to their

normal lives. With roughly 130 total patients at the facility, hours can be long and grueling, but

she remains positive and states “after 30 years in my occupation, I still find my work fulfilling

and feel that I make a difference in peoples’ lives.” During colder months, more responsibility is

added to her workload concerning respiratory issues. Inversions are a big factor that affects the

pulmonary health of residents.

Inversions occur when cold air and little to no breeze traps pollution in a valley. During

colder months this occurs frequently and each day that the inversion lasts can double the

particulate matter in the air—small particles of pollution that can pass between our lungs’
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English 2010

protective barrier. During unhealthy and worse Utah air quality days, precautions are undertaken

to reduce the chance of health implications concerning pollution. This includes monitoring

patients who rely on oxygen, advising patients to stay indoors, and monitoring oxygen saturation

in the blood. According to Mrs. Williams “roughly half of my patients suffer from COPD,

emphysema, pneumonia, and weaker cardiac systems.” This means around 70 patients are

monitored more carefully when dangerous air quality is announced by the Utah Department of

Environmental Quality.

Describe the pulmonary diseases and explain how they affect patients.

Along with pulmonary issues, patients with weaker cardiac systems can also suffer from

poor air quality. Atrial fibrillations, coronary artery disease, myocardial infraction (Define each

condition and explain how they affect patients. Expand on this paragraph. Use sources like

medical journals for final draft—Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins, etc.

Margaret Williams believes respiratory disorders need to be monitored more carefully

during discharges because this could also expose patients to conditions their body is not prepared

for. When patients are discharged and allowed to return to their homes, they don’t always follow

the advice of their doctors, professionals, and caretakers. This can cause many patients with

respiratory issues to become hypoxic, meaning their brain doesn’t receive as much oxygen as it

should, which can cause serious health effects. It is essential for patients to continue daily lung

and throat exercises to help their bodies to recover, but many become comfortable and forget to

maintain their advised routines. Because these routines are ignored, many patients return to the

skilled nursing facility in order to recover to the condition that they were when they were

discharged. Unfortunately, many patients end up repeating the mistake of ignoring their advised
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English 2010

routines again. This cycle is something Mrs. Williams thinks should be addressed so that adults

who are discharged don’t fall into a cycle of rehabilitation.