Which nursing action is recommended to help expand the lungs in pneumonia patients?

• A. Turn, cough, deep breathe every 2 hours
• B. Limit use of incentive spirometry
• C. Reduce fluids intake
• D. Avoid hand hygiene

Answer: (A)

Promoting lung expansion and airway clearance is essential in pneumonia because alveoli can become filled with exudate and collapse, hindering oxygen exchange. Turn, cough, and deep breathe helps increase inspiratory effort, reopen collapsed airways, and mobilize secretions, which improves ventilation and oxygenation. Doing this every two hours provides continuous stimulation of the lungs, preventing atelectasis during rest or sleep when breathing tends to become shallow. While incentive spirometry is a useful adjunct to encourage deep breaths, the routine nursing action of turning and encouraging coughing and deep breathing is the most direct method to expand the lungs in this context. Reducing fluids can thicken secretions and water balance should be maintained for mucus clearance, and avoiding hand hygiene is not related to lung expansion and is harmful to infection control.