Hands off my vent!!

Specialties Critical

Published

Lately we've been having some major problems on my unit with family members touching monitors, silencing alarms, turning off pumps, and even attempting to change vent settings!! My personal favorite is, "Guess what, I figured out where the silence button is!" "Well done, sir, because I really didn't need to know that my patient is sating 40%."

Seriously, how is this even a thing?

Public Service Announcement: If you do not have the letters MD, RN, or RT at the end of your name; if you are not an employee of this hospital; if you have absolutely no understanding that what you are about to do could result in serious bodily harm to your loved one, then please--DON'T TOUCH!

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I cannot believe that this actually has to be said.

Yep! I've seen a lot of crazy come from homes. One of my coworkers texted me that they finally got readings from the vent. Family had changed settings. I guess they forgot about that being possible. I think the patient had more issues than we thought....I mean, family changes settings, let the vent over heat, turned off alarms, and they were also breathing through water.

I didn't see it, but a buddy told me she went in to troubleshoot a vent in a home and it wasn't working because roaches were inside it and mice had chewed through the cord. The tubing was growing it's own petri dish of microbes that were visible. That patient died after they got to the hospital.

IV....I did have a patient who was told they could go home after they got their dose of Vancomycin that day. I started it and got called away for an emergency. About 20 minutes later, I went back for their emergency. I ended up sending them out from the nursing home I was at as a traveller. The patient turned the IV pumps off, took the tubing out and gave themselves a free flowing 500 ML bag of Vancomycin and their entire flush bag (about 900 mL). Over about 10 minutes or less. They had a PICC line. They were red! And in some respiratory distress from the fluid overload. They bought themselves a week stay in the local hospital instead of a trip home. That was before anyone came up with locks or automatic stops if you take tubing from the IV pump.

Specializes in Neuro ICU and Med Surg.

We have had family members play with equipment in the ICU I worked in. I had management and supervisors that were supportive. Those people were threatened with being removed from visitation if they continued. They quit. We had supportive management though.

I would document each issue. Families can be insane. Even when my grandma was a patient I didn't go touching everything. I have heard nurses tell patients to hit the restart button on the Alaris pump to restart it if they bent their arm for an AC IV. So I educated that staff nurse.

The worst thing I had a resident who turned off my versed and fentanyl pump on my vented patient and left the room and did not say anything. I found out and was livid, especially since this patient almost extubated himself. His chief resident told him off too.

Specializes in Psych.

Insane!

Helpful siblings, love it!!

Specializes in MICU/CCU, SD, home health, neo, travel.

We had an anorexic patient who figured out how to unlock the pump. Every damn time! Sometimes you just cannot outsmart them. We all wanted to handcuff her, but you can't do that. Eventually she died...because she outsmarted herself, I guess. Sad. She was really intelligent, but very sick.

Specializes in SICU, T/N, ED, PACU, MICU, CVICU, CCU.

Families never surprise me. Working in CVICU in my first position, we had a family group that didn't fail to amaze. The patient had been in the unit for some time, and had lived through three open chest procedures on the unit, resulting in a rocky sternum. Patient was wearing a chest binder, and had a betadine drip going. Because of the propensity for strange occurrences, we had moved this patient directly behind the unit secretary's desk, as a means of keeping our eyes on him. One afternoon, during a code, I was scrubbed in with one of the surgeons when we heard screaming. I watched as the unit secretary looked into the patient's room and stepped back covered head to toe in blood. Since the unit was closed during codes, the family had found a way to sneak past us while we were occupied. Once in the room, they decided that the patient was hungry. They disconnected the vent tubing (machines were MA-1's back then) from the ET tube and were shoving small pieces of pizza down the tube, and reconnecting the vent. They didn't get far. He bucked the vent with such force, he blew his aortotomy plegett. With the binder in place, the blood hit the headboard like you were spraying a high pressure garden hose. Mixed with the betadine gtt, the result was quite the mess, and a very dead patient. I still remember the family, blood covered and quite confused. "But he said he was hungry"

Specializes in ICU, trauma.
Families never surprise me. Working in CVICU in my first position, we had a family group that didn't fail to amaze. The patient had been in the unit for some time, and had lived through three open chest procedures on the unit, resulting in a rocky sternum. Patient was wearing a chest binder, and had a betadine drip going. Because of the propensity for strange occurrences, we had moved this patient directly behind the unit secretary's desk, as a means of keeping our eyes on him. One afternoon, during a code, I was scrubbed in with one of the surgeons when we heard screaming. I watched as the unit secretary looked into the patient's room and stepped back covered head to toe in blood. Since the unit was closed during codes, the family had found a way to sneak past us while we were occupied. Once in the room, they decided that the patient was hungry. They disconnected the vent tubing (machines were MA-1's back then) from the ET tube and were shoving small pieces of pizza down the tube, and reconnecting the vent. They didn't get far. He bucked the vent with such force, he blew his aortotomy plegett. With the binder in place, the blood hit the headboard like you were spraying a high pressure garden hose. Mixed with the betadine gtt, the result was quite the mess, and a very dead patient. I still remember the family, blood covered and quite confused. "But he said he was hungry"

omg:nailbiting:

Specializes in ER.

That's either criminal negligence or murder...a three year old would know better. You don't put food down the air tube!

I personally would complete an incidence report/notify my manager for each occurrence.

And PLEASE, everyone, document that you educated and notified management!!! If something goes south because the family altered equipment, you are much better off if you can show that they were meddling before and you told them it was unacceptable (in a "gentle but firm" way...)

You could end all of this with one call to the hospital risk management office.

Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.
Families never surprise me. Working in CVICU in my first position, we had a family group that didn't fail to amaze. The patient had been in the unit for some time, and had lived through three open chest procedures on the unit, resulting in a rocky sternum. Patient was wearing a chest binder, and had a betadine drip going. Because of the propensity for strange occurrences, we had moved this patient directly behind the unit secretary's desk, as a means of keeping our eyes on him. One afternoon, during a code, I was scrubbed in with one of the surgeons when we heard screaming. I watched as the unit secretary looked into the patient's room and stepped back covered head to toe in blood. Since the unit was closed during codes, the family had found a way to sneak past us while we were occupied. Once in the room, they decided that the patient was hungry. They disconnected the vent tubing (machines were MA-1's back then) from the ET tube and were shoving small pieces of pizza down the tube, and reconnecting the vent. They didn't get far. He bucked the vent with such force, he blew his aortotomy plegett. With the binder in place, the blood hit the headboard like you were spraying a high pressure garden hose. Mixed with the betadine gtt, the result was quite the mess, and a very dead patient. I still remember the family, blood covered and quite confused. "But he said he was hungry"

Not many stories leave me jaw dropped and speechless...but you got me.

Families never surprise me. Working in CVICU in my first position, we had a family group that didn't fail to amaze. The patient had been in the unit for some time, and had lived through three open chest procedures on the unit, resulting in a rocky sternum. Patient was wearing a chest binder, and had a betadine drip going. Because of the propensity for strange occurrences, we had moved this patient directly behind the unit secretary's desk, as a means of keeping our eyes on him. One afternoon, during a code, I was scrubbed in with one of the surgeons when we heard screaming. I watched as the unit secretary looked into the patient's room and stepped back covered head to toe in blood. Since the unit was closed during codes, the family had found a way to sneak past us while we were occupied. Once in the room, they decided that the patient was hungry. They disconnected the vent tubing (machines were MA-1's back then) from the ET tube and were shoving small pieces of pizza down the tube, and reconnecting the vent. They didn't get far. He bucked the vent with such force, he blew his aortotomy plegett. With the binder in place, the blood hit the headboard like you were spraying a high pressure garden hose. Mixed with the betadine gtt, the result was quite the mess, and a very dead patient. I still remember the family, blood covered and quite confused. "But he said he was hungry"

Pleaaaasssseee tell me action was taken against the family?

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