communicating w/ pts on ventilators

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At work I occasionally float to the ICU/ICU stepdown units (and for precepting in nursing school I hope to get into critical care!) But I was wondering what are some creative ways when it comes to communicating with pts who cannot talk? Some are awake and are able to communicate by writing, but others can't and I feel like an idiot when they try mouthing something to me and I can't understand. Obviously I can look at other signs such as restlessness or agitation which could be an indicator of pain (or sometimes incontinence from my experience) but what are some other ways?

Thank you, everyone :)

Specializes in ER, progressive care.

Use of an i-Touch/i-Pad is very interesting! And thank you for your replies, everyone!

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Specializes in critical care, PACU.

I absolutely love these communication boards:

http://www.ahutton.com/v/images/VidatakBoard_Front_r2-800.JPG

you can print it out and use one for each individual patient and they point to what they are trying to communicate. just google communication boards and you will find a lot of different variations

but most of my vented patients are sedated or comatose (hate to admit it, but that's just how I like them) so I dont get to use the thing so much

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Specializes in ER, progressive care.
I absolutely love these communication boards:

http://www.ahutton.com/v/images/VidatakBoard_Front_r2-800.JPG

you can print it out and use one for each individual patient and they point to what they are trying to communicate. just google communication boards and you will find a lot of different variations

but most of my vented patients are sedated or comatose (hate to admit it, but that's just how I like them) so I dont get to use the thing so much

THANK YOU for this!!! I am printing this out and bringing this the next time I work in the ICU/ICU stepdown.

A majority of the vented patients I have worked with are sedated or comatose but there have been a few that haven't been. Thank you again!!

ETA: I was also wondering if you could tell me about Samaritan in general. Is it a larger or smaller hospital? How do you and other staff feel about working there - do you love your job? What kind of floor do you work on and what's the staff:pt ratio? Is the hospital itself pretty "updated" as far as equipment goes? And also - can you wear whatever color scrubs/shoes you want or do you have to wear certain colors? Lol I was thinking about purchasing a pair of Danskos in black...at my current job we can wear whatever colors/prints we want except for certain floors (such as the ICU stepdown that I float to frequently) we have to wear dark gray scrubs and the nurses have to wear ciel blue, but we can wear whatever color shoes we want. I almost purchased a pair of Dankos but the person I was talking to told me to consider uniform colors. I also used to work for the Cleveland Clinic as a PCNA and we also had to wear certain colors...I had to wear hunter green and the nurses had to wear all-white, but shoes didn't matter - now they do. I know it varies from hospital-to-hospital and I might not even be able to get a job at Samaritan (I might have to try the other area hospitals) but I was just wondering.

And if you don't feel comfortable answering any of these questions, please feel free to PM me!

Thank you again :)

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Specializes in critical care, PACU.

who about Samaritan?

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Specializes in ER, progressive care.

haha this was supposed to be posted in another forum, and somehow it ended up here. I was able to talk to the user about SMC, though ;)

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Specializes in Anesthesia.

99% of the time they want you to itch their nose!

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Specializes in MICU, SICU, and transplants.

Similar to other responses, if I see that we're not getting anywhere with the lip reading, I tell the pt exactly that. I say "I can't figure out what you are trying to say, so I'm going to ask you some questions to narrow it down. Is it (what you're trying to say) about pain? comfort? something you need? temperature? something in the room? TV?...

I just keep working to narrow it down. I work in an ICU now but I've also worked in a pulmonary rehab unit so I have a lot of experience with this. Fortunately I'm a skilled lip reader. Where are those classes in nursing school, anyway?!!!

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Specializes in ER, progressive care.
Where are those classes in nursing school, anyway?!!!

haha offering those classes wouldn't be such a bad idea!

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