How long does your patient stay in hospital?

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My patient is a young child who has a trach. He is having many respiratory problems.:crying2: How long do trach patients usually stay in the hospital? Is it usually 1-2 weeks or 1-2 months? Anyone care to make a guess? Please let me know how long your patient usually stays in the hospital. Thanks so much.:redbeathe

That's great news! My feeling is the mom has a point there. The longer they are in the hospital the greater chance of picking up a nasty bug. On the other hand, some parents wait too long and delay the inevitable when their status is clearly on a downward trend. Sounds like you were worried about him.

When I worked at Children's we had a few babies who stayed for months, but it's unusual nowadays it seems. A big part of that was the family situation.

Yes I agree. The sooner he gets home the better chance of not picking up "something new".

I was worried sick about this child. I am so glad he will be home very soon.:yeah:

Normal saline is easy to make, have found the recipe online more than once. Problem easily solved, gloves not so easy. They are expensive. One nurse stole a box from her other hh agency. Mom stole a box from the hospital last time we were there. She gets as much as she can each time she goes. Don't blame her.

nursel156

It never astounds me how a nurse with only one patient can't do her/his job. When I come in on Monday, I have to give my patient and his area a thorough cleaning to make up for two days of neglect. Our night nurses come to the house to sleep. They don't empty the trash, so I see the soaked and overflowing one diaper that they change at the end of the shift. Home health extended care cases seem to attract more than their share of lazy individuals. It is depressing to work against this day after day. And I do not like my patient going to the hospital because it is a remark about the care he receives, including my care, he suffers from being sick, and I miss work and income because other people don't do their job properly.

Normal saline is easy to make, have found the recipe online more than once. Problem easily solved, gloves not so easy. They are expensive. One nurse stole a box from her other hh agency. Mom stole a box from the hospital last time we were there. She gets as much as she can each time she goes. Don't blame her.

My patient's Mom told me that she plans on getting lots of NS and gloves at the hospital before he is discharged home.:yeah:

Specializes in Peds(PICU, NICU float), PDN, ICU.

I used to work the equipment/supply side. Most of the supply companies don't keep an inventory of what they have in stock and what is going out. Make friends with the supply companies. Most won't supply gloves. But they do carry NSS. They can usually drop a few extra supplies in if they like you. If I knew a pt really needed something I'd always add a few extra. I'd also keep extra supplies in my car so if I got somewhere I could offer extra if they needed it. But I'd never admit to having anything in my car unless I knew they truely needed an item. I kept at least one of everything in my car.

I've seen other nurses take from one home to give to another. It still ends up in a shortage when they do that. Bad idea!! Plus some of these homes are sooo nasty.

If you are having an issue with gloves, make an anonymous complaint to OSHA. By law your employer has to provide you with enough PPE to do your job and protect your patient. Ive contacted OSHA before and got a great response. OSHA can come in at any time and inspect facilities. But because our work environment is in a private home, they have to get permission from the family to see what is supplied in the home. I found out that the families want enough gloves as the nurses do and are more than willing to let the inspectors see that. Hope that helps! :-)

I used to work the equipment/supply side. Most of the supply companies don't keep an inventory of what they have in stock and what is going out. Make friends with the supply companies. Most won't supply gloves. But they do carry NSS. They can usually drop a few extra supplies in if they like you. If I knew a pt really needed something I'd always add a few extra. I'd also keep extra supplies in my car so if I got somewhere I could offer extra if they needed it. But I'd never admit to having anything in my car unless I knew they truely needed an item. I kept at least one of everything in my car.

I've seen other nurses take from one home to give to another. It still ends up in a shortage when they do that. Bad idea!! Plus some of these homes are sooo nasty.

If you are having an issue with gloves, make an anonymous complaint to OSHA. By law your employer has to provide you with enough PPE to do your job and protect your patient. Ive contacted OSHA before and got a great response. OSHA can come in at any time and inspect facilities. But because our work environment is in a private home, they have to get permission from the family to see what is supplied in the home. I found out that the families want enough gloves as the nurses do and are more than willing to let the inspectors see that. Hope that helps! :-)

Thanks for the great information.:yeah: I didn't know that my employer is required by law to supply gloves. I thought I was just lucky that they did send gloves when needed. One of my other patients lives in a small board and care home. That place never ever has soap in the bathroom. Never. :mad:

Our agency will provide gloves if the DME won't supply them. Our DME sends 3 boxes of S, M, and L each month. When there are sales at AllegroMedical.com, I try to buy a case of each so we don't ever run out. I think I only paid like $15/case for each size for vinyl gloves and it was free shipping. They have great coupons, too.

Eww, who doesn't have soap in a bathroom? Especially a bathroom that nurses and parents use and then provide trach care? Is there Purell at least somewhere in the house?

Specializes in Peds(PICU, NICU float), PDN, ICU.

I'm not sure if there are any laws for soap. My agency does provide soap. But they fuss if we go through it too fast. They also provide paper towels. I worked for an agency that used to make the families provide paper towels. Most were great about it. One family I worked for would only allow one sheet per hand washing.

At the board and care home there is never any soap in the bathroom.:eek: There is usually some liquid soap in his room sent by the agency for the nurses. However, I have arrived to the night shift a few times and found no liquid soap in his room either. I always bring my own soap now just in case.

At the board and care home there is never any soap in the bathroom.:eek: There is usually some liquid soap in his room sent by the agency for the nurses. However, I have arrived to the night shift a few times and found no liquid soap in his room either. I always bring my own soap now just in case.

And don't forget toilet paper. That little addition to your purse or nurses' bag can come in quite handy at any time.

Specializes in Pediatric.

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