course of action for pt who cannot expectorate mucous

Hey Hassled!!!

Well, I was gonna dash off an ICU nurse's response to ya. But the Mrs is a nurse in LTC and she's sittin' right here. She suggests that she'd give a nebulizer and if that didn't work and the 'choking' continued--that she'd suction the oral-pharynx with a hard 'yankaur' or 'tonsil' suction to stimulate a strong cough and aspirate the secretions.

If the 'choking' seems very serious, the ICU nurse's approach is to take a soft plastic suction catheter with a bit of water-soluble lube and stick thru his nares into the back of his throat and with luck into his trachea and suction
ALL THAT CRAP out of his airways. It can be traumatic (for both parties) in the beginning. But it has the benefit of the direct approach.

Papaw John

PS: What's MND?

Hello, Hassled,

I am sorry, but you really need to seek legal counsel if you are wondering if an action or lack of an action is negligence. The members of allnurses.com cannot give you this type of legal advice.

Please know we care and hope you can get this resolved. Good luck.