COPD Nursing Diagnosis & Care Plan

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common name for a group of potentially debilitating lung conditions. However, comprehensive nursing care plans with short and long-term goals can make COPD easily manageable, allowing patients to resume living normal lives.

What is COPD?

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is a condition caused by lung damage, resulting in swelling and inflammation that limits the airflow entering and exiting the lungs.¹ COPD includes a group of respiratory problems, such as chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and bronchiectasis.²

COPD Causes

COPD is caused by a variety of factors, including:

• Cigarette smoke
• Fumes
• Dust 
• Air pollution
• Chemicals
• Asthma
• Age
• Genetics
• History of childhood respiratory infections
• Secondhand smoke
• Poverty
• Living in rural areas

COPD is most commonly referred to as the “smoker’s disease”; however, according to the American Lung Association (ALA), 1 in 4 people living with COPD have never smoked.³

COPD Signs and Symptoms

Knowing the signs and symptoms of COPD is essential before developing a nursing care plan. Signs and symptoms include:

• Cough with or without mucus
• Wheezing
• Chest Tightness
• Respiratory distress
• Peripheral edema
• Reoccurring lung infections
• Fatigue
• Neck vein distention
• Cyanosis
• Clubbing
• Weight loss
• Dyspnea on exertion

COPD Diagnosis

Diagnosing COPD is based on a variety of tests, including:

• Spirometry
• Lung diffusion test
• Pulse oximetry
• Exercise stress test
• CT scan
• Chest x-ray
• Blood gases¹

---

How to Develop a COPD Nursing Care Plan

When developing a COPD nursing care plan, the first step is determining a patient’s goals. Although you’ll generate parts of the nursing care plan on your own, the nursing diagnosis must be on the NANDA-I approved nursing diagnosis list.

According to the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA),  a nursing diagnosis is “a clinical judgment about the human response to health conditions/life processes, or a vulnerability for that response, by an individual, family, group or community.”

A nursing diagnosis is rooted in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs pyramid and helps prioritize treatments. Based on the nursing diagnosis, you’ll set goals to resolve your patient’s problems through nursing implementations determined in the next step.

NANDA-I separates nursing diagnoses into four categories:

• Problem-focused: A diagnosis based on patient problems present during a nursing assessment.
• Risk: A diagnosis based on risk factors that require intervention from a nurse or healthcare team before a real problem develops.
• Health promotion: A diagnosis that intends to improve the overall well-being of an individual, family, or community.
• Syndrome: Based on a cluster of nursing diagnoses that occur in a pattern or can all be addressed through the same or similar nursing interventions.

Determining the most important goals for the patient and the corresponding nursing diagnosis provides the basis to create a COPD care plan that can best support the patient while reaching those goals.

COPD Nursing Care Plan Components

A nursing care plan has several key components, including: 

• Nursing Diagnosis
• Expected outcome
• Nursing interventions and rationales
• Evaluation

Each of the five main components is essential to the overall nursing process and care plan. A properly written care plan must include these sections. Otherwise, it won’t make sense.

• Nursing diagnosis: A clinical judgment that helps nurses determine the plan of care for their patients
• Expected outcome: The measurable action for a patient to be achieved in a specific time frame. 
• Nursing interventions and rationales: Actions to be taken to achieve expected outcomes and reasoning behind them.
• Evaluation: Determines the effectiveness of the nursing interventions and determines if expected outcomes are met within the time set.

---

COPD Nursing Care Plan Examples

All nursing diagnoses must be NANDA-I approved and have corresponding definitions to help guide nurses in writing a nursing care plan.⁴

Other Nursing Care Plans

• Hypertension Nursing Care Plan
• Acute Pain Nursing Care Plan
• Constipation Nursing Care Plan
• Infection Nursing Care Plan

References

¹ Mayo Clinic. n.d. “COPD.” COPD. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/copd/symptoms-causes/syc-20353679.

² Ball, Jane W., Seidel's Guide to Physical Examination: An Interprofessional Approach. 9 ed., Elsevier, 2019.

³ American Lung Association. n.d. “COPD Causes and Risk Factors.” COPD Causes and Risk Factors. https://www.lung.org/lung-health-diseases/lung-disease-lookup/copd/what-causes-copd.

⁴ Herdman, T. H., Shigemi Kamitsuru, and Camila Lopes, eds. 2024. NANDA-I International Nursing Diagnoses: Definitions & Classification, 2024-2026. 13th ed. N.p.: Thieme Medical Publishers.

Nursing Care Plan