Which nursing intervention helps expand the lungs in pneumonia patients?

• A. Use an incentive spirometer to expand the lungs 10 times per hour
• B. Increase fluids to 4 liters per day
• C. Encourage bed rest throughout recovery
• D. Avoid vaccination

Answer: (A)

Pneumonia can cause shallow breathing and areas of collapsed alveoli (atelectasis). Encouraging sustained, deep breaths helps reopen those airways and improves overall ventilation. An incentive spirometer guides the patient to take slow, deep inspirations and hold them briefly, providing visual feedback and repeat practice. Performing this about ten times per hour keeps the lungs expanding, promoting better oxygenation and helping clear secretions. Other options don’t actively promote lung expansion or airway clearance—hydration alone doesn’t reopen collapsed areas, prolonged bed rest decreases ventilation, and vaccination is preventive rather than a treatment for an active pneumonia.