What are some of the nurses views on Hyperbaric Medicine?

They wanted to try hyperbaric when my mom was dying of that flesh eating bacterial disease. She was on a vent and someone on a vent could not fit in the chamber.

I have no exposure to it otherwise.

Good question though.

renerian

There are ventilators specifically designed for hyperbaric chambers. I had many advanced classes in hyperbaric medicine. The chamber can be life saving in these diseases (including gas gangrene) as it not only oxygenates the tissue but also inactivates the toxins that are being produced. These patients are difficult to treat. We always paralyzed ventilated patients for the duration of the treatment because if they start to breath stack they will have a pneumothorax and can rapidly die. You must be in complete control of their breathing and closely monitor the volumes are they will change rapidly during pressure changes. We had arterial lines in place, used transcutaneous tissue monitoring, cardiac monitors--basically all the normal ICU equipment. A hyperbaric RN attended the patient as well as respiratory therapist trained in hyperbaric medicine and in the use of this ventilator. Some of my scariest moments in nursing were during these very difficult treatments

Just for the record I have treated many patients in the hyperbaric chamber with ventilators. It's just that some types of monoplace chambers do not have approved ventilators for them. If it was a Sechrist Monoplace chamber and they said they couldn't treat, it was due to the staff not wanting to treat critical care patients.

I wish they would have had a vent one when my mom was dying. I do not think it would have saved her though.\


I think it would be an awesome specialty.

renerian

If they had a Sechrist and couldnt treat it may not have been because they didnt want to, it could have been because they didnt have the vent piece!! We had 2 Sechrist chambers, neither one had the vent connection.

If the unit wanted to treat critical care patients they would have the vent connection and the appropriate equipment. The connection is easy to install and can be done by the bio-med people in your hospital.

Kallie -
I am not a nurse, but I am a hyperbaric technician and a nursing student. THe reimbursment from the government doesn't have anything to do with your pay as a nurse. Your salary is negotiated by your employer and the government payment you referred to pertains to Medicare. True they are only reimbursing 700 per treatment - which may be being cut beginning of next year (FYI). However depending on the facility you are working for/with reimbursement is negotieated with each insurance comapny and reimbursement ranges from 50 - 100% of whatever the hospital has determined treatment cost is. As a nurse that does not necessarily directly effect you. The issue with HBO nursing is how involved you wish to be or how involved your employers wants you to be. Our nurse presently does only critical dives, reviews charts and recently has been working in burn care to help recruit more patients for our facility. Other facilities especially those with monoplace chambers have nurses running the chambers, performing wound care, writing care plans and educating the patients. Opportunities exist where you can work part time as an HBO nurse to be on call for critical dives. The field is exciting and growing and one reason I am giong into nursing is to better assist and care for my HBO patients. I would reccommend the position to every nurse. You just have to negotiate your salary and determine if the work load is acceptable and satisfying enough for you!
Best of luck and feel free to write again
God Bless!
Dawn M

Hyperbaric therapy is a growing specialty field. There is some discussion on what medical credential would make the best Hyperbaric Therapy Technician. Some say that it is best for nursing and others say respiratory therapy. We have 5 chambers here in Cape Girardeau MO. 3 at one hospital and 2 at the other. One department has nurses and the other has RTs. I am sure it is like that all over the nation.

I've never worked in a hyperbaric area, but I have seen great results. I remember in particular a patient with severe necrotizing fasciitis who received hyperbaric treatment... his outcome was truly amazing.