Whats the Difference??

i would think that ineffective breathing pattern would cover whatever you think "impaired spontaneous ventilation" is. look in your nanda-i 2012-2014 for the defining characteristics of ineffective breathing and see which apply to your patient before you decide. assessment first, diagnosis second.

Hi,

Impaired spontaneous ventilation is where a pt actually has decreased energy which prevents them from being able to breathe to sustain life and Ineffective Breathing pattern is where the actually physical process of breathing is not being done properly to allow for proper ventilation. The two are very similar, but I view Impaired spontaneous ventilation as more an internal or metabolic process that just is not allowing a person to breathe and Ineffective Breathing pattern as something more external-so like anxiety, or positioned in bed.

Also, the interventions for Impaired spontaneous ventilation are more invasive. Hope that helps.

again, no such nursing diagnosis exists, and it appears that ineffective breathing pattern has been removed from the most recent nanda, too. so... .

take a look at the one that remains, impaired gas exchange, and see if that has defining characteristics that your patient has. bottom line, if impaired gas exchange is going on it doesn't matter how it happened (though of course you need to identify it, so you can tailor your nursing interventions to the patient's individual needs). could be neuromuscular (like guillain-barre or als), could be cardiogenic (like pulmonary edema), could be metabolic/poison (these tend to be neuromuscular, like botulism), could be mechanical (like bad kyphosis or scoliosis), could be hematogenic (like a big honking pulmonary embolus).