Oscillator Vent

[JazzyRN]

Hey I was wondering if one of you fabulous experienced PICU nurses could give me some information on the Oscillator vent. I've seen pt's on it and I know its the most powerful vent there is, usually last resort with bad gases. Ive never had the patient on an oscillator and I just wanted to find out some more about it. I hear them talk about amplitude, and mean with these vents, im not so sure what that is. I also noticed these patients dont get suctioned often, sometimes just once a day or so and when they do its a big deal. Why do you clamp the ETT when you remove them from the vent? How come that vent shuts off when you disconnect it? What special considerations do you have to take into account, with a pt on the oscillator vs a pt on the conventional vent? Ive been looking for info about it on the net, but its scarce.Any info you have would be really helpful. Thanks!

[marilynmom, LPN, NP]

Thanks so much VentJock! I'm printing that off to keep it with me to refer to.

[ECMOismygame]

Great info!

Just wanted to add that we rarely ever disconnect the HFOV (for suctioning, respositioning, etc), as it takes hours to RErecruit the alveoli.

some studies have shown that it can take up to 24hrs to "RE-recruit" the lungs again after disconnecting the ventilator circuit. (this applies to pts on conventional vents as well)

[RainDreamer, BSN, RN]

some studies have shown that it can take up to 24hrs to "RE-recruit" the lungs again after disconnecting the ventilator circuit. (this applies to pts on conventional vents as well)

Recruit as in first recruiting ..... RE-recruiting as in once they have been recruited, disconnected, and need to be recruited again

Just thought I would throw that out there because a big red flag pops up for me when I see things like "disconnect from the HFOV". Our unit is big on never disconnecting unless absolutely necessasry .... didn't know if that was standard practice.

[elizabells, BSN, RN]

Just thought I would throw that out there because a big red flag pops up for me when I see things like "disconnect from the HFOV". Our unit is big on never disconnecting unless absolutely necessasry .... didn't know if that was standard practice.

We don't have that as standard on our unit. We're so suction-happy, and don't use inline suction, that a kid's HFOV could get disconnected ten times a shift, if they "need" suctioning that often. We also sometimes do crazy, McGyver-esque things with nebulizers and oscillators. It makes our RTs VERY unhappy, because it ends up ruining an entire circuit. Iloprost can make pretty, pretty crystals all along the wires inside an oscillator circuit...

[RainDreamer, BSN, RN]

The only time we ever disconnect is with the HFJV, as there is no inline suctioning on the jets .... so we have to disconnect.