Outpatient instruction for individuals with COPD.

Educating individuals with COPD is an important part of their overall medical and nursing management. Due to the debilitating nature of the disease, care must be exercised to offer programs that meet the participants' individual needs. Classes should be offered at a convenient time and place. To facilitate discussion, class size should be kept small. Family members and significant others should be encouraged to attend the classes to reinforce what is taught in class and to provide support and encouragement. Finally, measuring outcomes is important in order to demonstrate the overall effectiveness of the program; however, instruments used to measure effectiveness must be simple, easy to administer, and complete. Helping individuals manage their COPD presents a real challenge to nurses. A well-designed educational program is one cost-effective measure that can meet this challenge.