Compliance

memphispanda, RN · Feb 1, 2004

Could you perhaps use balloons? Maybe use a small balloon and a large balloon and show how a certain amount of air is quite easy to put into the large balloon, but not so easy to put into the small one?

Or maybe you can put a balloon inside something...like a jar or a cup and show that it can only inflate so much when it is constricted?

Or maybe see if you can get balloons of different thicknesses--that would be the best--and show that thinner balloons inflate more easily than thick ones.

VickyRN, MSN, DNP, RN · Feb 1, 2004

Thanks for the ideas!!! :kiss

Jolie, BSN · Feb 2, 2004

My 7th grade science teacher had the best gizmo I've ever seen for demonstrating diaphragmmatic movement and lung compliance. It was a clear plastic "chest" which contained rubber lungs and a diaphragm. When you pulled down on the diaphragm creating a vacuum, the lungs filled with air demonstrating the active work of inspiration. When the diaphragm passively relaxed, the air was exhaled. She could adjust the "work" of breathing to demonstrate the effect of diseased lungs. It was such a clear and simple means of teaching the basic anatomy and physiology of breathing. I have no idea who manufactured it, and I haven't seen another once since.

In teaching NICU nurses the pathophysiology of RDS and surfactant deficiency, I also used regular balloons. By asking the students to blow the first breath into a balloon, I was able to demonstrate the difficulty of an infant taking it's first breath. Once the balloon was slightly distended with air, the subsequent attempts to blow it up were far easier, much like a healthy lung with adequate surfactant. Infants with RDS and surfactant deficiency must essentially start with an empty balloon with every breath, as their alveoli completely collapse with every exhalation. That is why breathing is so exhausting for them.