Checking O2, suction

Dacatster, ADN · Sep 11, 2015

Best response is to make sure it is in working order

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Sep 11, 2015

I'm in my 3rd semester of nursing school, so I feel like a complete tool for asking this, but what exactly does it mean to "check O2 and suction at the bedside" (ex: for a seizure patient)? Does it mean to actually turn the oxygen on to make sure it's working, and attach tubing to the suction and make sure it's on the right pressure? Or is it just looking and making sure the devices are there?
Too ashamed to ask my teacher and fellow students this, so thank you! LOL

Think about it. What good would it be to just check that these things are present? If they're not functioning, they're not going to help you in a code.

BiotoBSNtoFNP · Sep 11, 2015

Likely to check that it's working. I have been in unfortunate situations where the patient needed O2 and the green christmas trees to hook up the oxygen was missing! They are so hard to find on my floor. So we had to play panicked scavenger hunt/call respiratory in a somewhat of an emergent situation. Would have been much better to check to make sure all of the parts of the O2 were there and readily available prior to placing a patient in that bed :)

Comorbidities · Sep 12, 2015

Thank you! I did not actually turn the oxygen on for my last patient, so now I know! I am now a better nursing student thanks to you all :)

So is this something that is done only before a patient is placed into the room? Every shift? Once/day? Or does it just depend on the hospital?

PS - just realised I should have placed this into the nursing student help forum - sorry!

RN403, BSN, RN · Sep 12, 2015

I would do it before my patient enters the room. When you get report on a new patient you should anticipate the type of equipment that will be needed in the room.

For example, I get report that my patient is coming in after aspirating and has been dx with pneumonia. I know to have suction, O2, and neb treatment equipment set up and ready to go.

In an ideal world, every room should have the proper O2 equipment and suction set up. But, we all know this is not always the case. As the nurse you will want to prepare prior to the patient coming to the room and ensure each shift that the needed equipment is there and ready to use.

Maybe the the system of when these checks are performed vary per hospital, but, as a nurse I always check upon admission and always at the start of my shift. As someone else said you don't want to be scrambling in an emergency.

annabanana2 · Sep 12, 2015

As a student I was taught, at the beginning of every shift, to do a safety check on all of my patients, including turning on the suction and O2 briefly to make sure they're working; making sure the associated tubing/mask/nasal prongs are in the basket on the wall behind the bed; making sure appropriate bed rails are up and beds are low; no spills or garbage on the floor. Oh, and also to eyeball the patient to make sure they are sleeping and not dead (seriously!).

Stephia87RN · Sep 12, 2015

I work on the Neuro floor at my hospital. Part of our seizure precautions are having the oxygen set up and ready to go (mask or NC attached) and the suction set up and ready to go including suction kits and Yaunkers. Check 02 and suction would mean to make sure everything is ready to go and all working in case the patient has a seizure.

If the patient has a tracheostomy or is vented, it means to check the 02 saturation and suction the trachea as needed to maintain the set O2 sat. Parameters.

At least that's how it works at our hospital!

danceyrun · Sep 12, 2015

Just a side note- no question is ever a dumb one, so don't be afraid to ask someone for help if you don't know something. It is always so much better for you to ask than to not know something and potentially harm someone :)

Mavrick, BSN, RN · Sep 13, 2015

Actually it is not true that there are no dumb questions. Many of your fellow busy nurses will give you the hairy eyeball when you ask (or repeatedly) ask a question that is obvious you have not spent any time thinking about.

As a student or new nurse you're gonna be ignorant (don't know) try not to be stupid (can't learn).

I think emmy27 had a really good answer to a questioner.

Sep 9 by [COLOR=#003366]emmy27, BSN, RN[/COLOR]

In general, I think it's much better to ask questions (and it's something I find encouraging in a new grad or orientee) than to guess (eek) or even worse, fail to even realize there's something you don't know.

If you feel like you're getting a negative reaction to questions from your coworkers, take a moment to think through each situation and be sure you really do need to ask it (the answer might occur to you if you think it through, or you might realize you know where to find the answer in your clinical resources or policies and procedures, or that you had the same issue in the past and solved it then, or that the question you're asking doesn't really get to the crux of the problem and you actually have a different one). Sometimes it can become habit to instantly ask someone what to do when you're uncertain (and when AREN'T you uncertain as a new grad?), and you can miss out on the realization that you're actually increasing in competence if you don't stop and give yourself a chance to come up with a plan. Also, make sure you're taking the time to do that- people tend to react much better to questions phrased as "I have situation X and I was planning to try solution Y. Is that what you would do, or am I missing something obvious?" I have conversations like this with other experienced nurses every day, because there are so many things you can encounter in nursing that even after years of practice, you can still be presented with a completely unique stumper of a situation. Whereas just asking "What should I do?" without any evidence of critical thinking can get tiresome and make people wonder about the asker's baseline competence.

Also consider how and when you're asking- if the coworker is in the middle of something or super stressed, maybe find someone else or wait till they're done with their task.

But if you aren't actually getting negative feedback from your coworkers and you're just experiencing free-floating worry about it looking bad to ask questions: don't worry. The right number of questions is whatever number you need to ask to do your job safely.

PDN Louise · Oct 26, 2021

Hello

I am Louise a Practice Development Nurse. I have recently been doing teachings on O2 and Suction Checks and overall patient bedside safety. Please find the link below to my video and I have also attached a PPT regarding bedside safety.

https://vimeo.com/596029338

Patient Bedside Safety.pdf