Here's a nurse's perspective....IMHO, suctioning should always be done sterile as Jim has described. Unfortunately some clients do not have a large enough supply of suction catheters to allow a new catheter for each suctioning. The catheters have to be reused. I don't agree with that practice but have had to comply. I worked one case where the parents didn't wear gloves to suction their child. The nurses, of course, had to. Germs are germs. Regarding trach changes.... I had the best luck with frequent changes, typically once a week. Frankly, it surprises me that some of you are able to go for long periods of time without a change.
Mary Quoting Jim Lubin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > I just had my trach changed this morning. My nurse changes my trach > every 3 > months. I have not had an infection in the 15 years I have had a > trach. > > I'm insistent that people stay sterile when they suction me. Use one > sterile glove to hold the suction catheter. If that glove or the > catheter > touches anything outside the trach, stop suctioning and change them. > Only > use one glove because the other hand is used to take the vent off the > trach > and to use the ambu bag. When people use 2 gloves it's harder to > remember > that the one not holding the catheter is no longer sterile. This is > the > technique we teach to anyone who will be suctioning me. My friends > who have > no medical training actually tend to be more aware of trying to keep > sterile than some of the nurses I've had. > > We also never reuse suction catheters. > > That's what's worked for me. Hope that might be helpful to those of > you who > have infections. > > Jim > > At 12:20 PM 7/28/2004, Mark Boatman wrote: > >My trach has been changed every 12 weeks since I got > >the trach in 2/03. I started developing infections > >after the 6 week mark so I requested more frequent > >changes. After much arm twisting my doc agreed to > >change it every 6 weeks. But he warned me that > >changing the trach more often could bring infections. > >If this happens he said the changes would go back to > >every 12 weeks. I just wanted input on this from you > >all. > > > >Mark B. > > ---- > Jim Lubin > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Bothell, WA, USA > http://makoa.org/jim > disAbility Resources: http://www.makoa.org > Transverse Myelitis Association: http://www.myelitis.org/HowToHelp > >
