IN CHRONIC obstructive pulmonary disease, anticipatory nursing, boosted QoL, eased distress, and reduced complications in 6 months.
Anticipatory Nursing in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Psychological distress and persistent breathlessness can complicate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease care, especially when symptom control is slow and support is fragmented. In a quasi-experimental study using historical controls, researchers evaluated whether a structured anticipatory nursing model could improve psychological status and patient reported outcomes during a six-month intervention period.
The study enrolled 369 hospitalized patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease admitted between January 2023 and December 2024. A control cohort of 186 patients received routine nursing care, while 183 patients received structured, multidisciplinary anticipatory nursing. The intervention emphasized individualized care planning, proactive complication prevention, psychological support, and coordinated management of respiratory, circulatory, nutritional, and sleep related needs.
Anticipatory Nursing Improved Psychological Status
After the intervention, patients in the anticipatory nursing group had significantly lower anxiety and depression scores than those receiving routine care, based on the Self Rating Anxiety Scale and Self Rating Depression Scale, with both comparisons reported as p < 0.001. Symptom resolution was also faster in the intervention group, with shorter times to improvement in dyspnea, cough, wheezing, and chest tightness, again reported as p < 0.001 across outcomes.
Quality of life was assessed using the GQOLI-74 instrument. Anticipatory nursing was associated with significant gains across all quality-of-life domains compared with routine care, with p < 0.001 reported throughout.
Fewer Complications and Faster Recovery Signals
Complications occurred less often with anticipatory nursing, with a total complication rate of 12.02% versus 33.33% in the routine care group (χ2 = 23.83, p < 0.001). Baseline demographic, clinical, and socioeconomic characteristics were reported as similar between groups, supporting that observed differences were aligned with the care model rather than starting imbalances.
What This Means for Care Teams
These findings suggest that anticipatory nursing may function as a practical framework for integrating symptom focused prevention with psychological care in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The authors propose that a proactive, holistic nursing strategy could be incorporated into standard care pathways, including in settings with limited resources where multidisciplinary coordination is often difficult to sustain.
Reference: Hu X et al. Effect of anticipatory nursing on psychological status and quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a quasi-experimental study. Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2025;20:4091-4101.
