Pneumonia, Pulmonary Embolism & Chest Tube Care

Pneumonia presents with fever, productive cough, pleuritic chest pain, and crackles/decreased breath sounds over the affected area; older adults may instead present atypically with confusion and no fever at all, which is why a sudden change in mental status in an older adult should always prompt an infection workup, not just a neurological one. Pulmonary embolism classically presents with sudden-onset dyspnea, pleuritic chest pain, and tachycardia, often in a patient with a DVT risk factor (recent surgery, immobility, malignancy, oral contraceptive use) — a sudden, unexplained drop in oxygen saturation with these features should raise suspicion immediately, since PE can progress to cardiac arrest quickly if untreated.