Suctioning mouth with the same catheter used to suction lungs?!?!

[student456]

Ok tell me if im the only one who's totally grossed out by this!

I take care of a woman with a trach/vent, etc...so she had to go to the hospital last week and while i was there I myself (and another caregiver on a seperate occasion) saw the nurse deep suction her lungs AND then use the same suction catheter, stick it in her mouth and use it to suction oral secretions EWWW im just a nursing student but i thought it was wrong...would you want your lung secretions in your mouth? plus she had a lung infection too so it was even more disgusting. Its called a Yankaeur for a reason!

ahhh just a vent here....

[deeDawntee, RN]

Mouth care with swabs are just that, they do not suction and remove secretions from that area. And that must be done if the patient cannot handle their secretions. Usually a main reason that patients have trachs done is that they cannot handle their own secretions.

Hi, Have you not used the oral swabs that fit on the end of a suction hose? They have little packets of mouthwash in a plastic package that you break open and the swab absorbs the mouthwash, you then use it to suction out mouths (only) it has a little thumb hole like a suction catheter. They are wonderful, and the patients love them. They refresh the mouth and with the patient opening their mouths more readily, you can do a better job. We also have tooth brushes, with the same mechanism, it fits on the end of a suction hose... great products that really make a difference.....

[cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN]

That's what we use! I love them too! I use the one with a toothbrush in the morning, and then for the other times of mouthcare, we use the plain ones with just the swab connected to suction. It's a little kit for the day....

[NeosynephRN]

We have those lil kits too...they are great!! However we do not use them for "suctioning" they are just for mouth care. We suction with the yankaur or the flexible cath...depending, and then we move on to those kits. There is no way some of those goopy secretions are going to go in that tiny hole on the toothbrush...at least not the ones we have!

[marilynmom, LPN, NP]

Yep we suction lungs and then mouth with the same suction cath as well.

Of course I am in the PICU and the suction cath's are just easier to suction with in general on small mouths, we use the yankauers mainly for throwing up, diarrhea (yep--and then change the tubing), and just quick mouth suctioning but that is about it.

[edgwow]

I take care of trach and vents in home care, a rinse between tracheal suctioning and oral suctioning is what I have done for many years. I see no problem as long as the catheter is rinsed between.