Incentive Spirometery

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This may seem silly but I am looking for some tricks/tips in getting kids to use their incentive spirometry. I haven't cared for older children very long with my background being in NICU but now I am in a peds cardiac icu and getting them to open their lungs up after prolonged intubation is very important. I had an 8 year old yesterday who was really resistant to it. I managed to find him some bubbles from the playroom but he wasn't super enthusiastic about that either. I guess I could also mention he has mild autism and it was kind of hard to guage where his cognitive status was but his lungs were so diminished and I couldn't find a way to help him out.

Funily enough he LOVED his chest pt and would laugh and laugh when I did it (and then cough) so we did do a lot of that :)

Anyone with good tricks for this though??

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Specializes in Pediatrics, ER.

Pinwheels usually work well!

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

Another thing you could try is if they're allowed oral fluids, get them to blow bubbles in the fluid with a straw. Blowing a tissue away from their face is another game you can play. "See how high you can make the tissue float!" Incentive spirometry is boring. Children with autism are not known for being very cooperative; enlist the family to help figure out what would work with them.

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Specializes in ER, progressive care.
Another thing you could try is if they're allowed oral fluids, get them to blow bubbles in the fluid with a straw. Blowing a tissue away from their face is another game you can play. "See how high you can make the tissue float!"

This is what I was going to suggest! It works, too! You can also use cotton balls instead of tissues. Blowing bubbles with a wand also works.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

We can't get cotton balls on our unit. Not sure why. But then there are lots of things we can't get...

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Thanks for all the suggestions! I like the bubbles in the water idea! We did bubbles and I could tell he wanted to try but it hurt too much. It was hard to get his family on board as they were spanish speaking only and didn't really seem to understand what I was trying to get him to do (though the child did speak english). I had told them about it previously with an interpreter but the interpreter wasn't there with us at that moment so I don't know haha.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

So demonstrate! Get your own glass of water and straw and make a contest to see who can blow the biggest bubbles/move the tissue the farthest/make the most noise. You have to let go of all reluctance to look silly when you work with kids.

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So demonstrate! Get your own glass of water and straw and make a contest to see who can blow the biggest bubbles/move the tissue the farthest/make the most noise. You have to let go of all reluctance to look silly when you work with kids.

I blew lots of bubbles! haha but didn't know of the other ideas but will definitely keep them in mind for next time!

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Specializes in PICU, Sedation/Radiology, PACU.

In addition to the techniques above, we also use little party favors- the paper horns that roll up and straighten out when you blow on them. (They're called "blow-outs"). They work really well for toddlers.

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