LMA/Combitube

[NeuroNP]

I am in nursing school and we had a lecture this morning on airway devices and not one of the instructors had ever seen an LMA in practice. Not only that, one of them thought that an LMA and a Combitube were the same thing. She said, "Another name for this is Combitube." The other instructors had never heard of a Combitube.

I worked in an ER a few years ago and sat in on ACLS and they went over all that. (and this was like 6 or 7 years ago!) And we saw LMAs used all the time in the field by EMS and in the OR for quick procedures. Are my instructors clueless or has it just been a LONG time since they've been in the real world?

[Altra, BSN, RN]

It's unfortunate that your lecture was given by instructors unfamiliar with the topic.

If you have previous EMS or ER experience, maybe you could approach one of them privately, offer your experience, and offer to give a 5-10 minute presentation to the class. Be prepared to be turned down, though.

Good luck with school.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Perhaps I should have bitten my tongue prior to responding to this post, but I absolutely cannot help myself right now. Therefore, I'm just going to say it...

Many clinical instructors do what they do out of a deeply true love of teaching, and to mentor/mold the future generation of nurses. I admire and respect these types of teachers, because they embody the spirit of dedication, unselfishness, and giving.

On the other hand, numerous clinical instructors are in it for a myriad of other reasons. Some were totally incompetent as bedside nurses, and experienced multiple clinical failures throughout the courses of their professional careers. One of my instructors admitted to me that he was always causing patient care problems in the hospital, and never felt as if he was part of the solution. Another instructor admitted that she had never been employed at any single hospital or facility for greater than 8 months, and that she was always getting fired or forced into resigning.

Some people become clinical instructors because school hours are more conducive to raising their families. Another of my instructors admitted that she took a massive paycut to teach, because the daytime hours being offered by the school were more conducive to family life with her three young children.

Please don't flame me. I acknowledged that both the wonderful and the incompetent instructors exist.

[ebear, BSN, RN]

Bryan,

It's hard to determine whether your instructors are "clueless" or not been active in actual nursing for a long time. Is it possible for a CRNA in your area to provide an "inservice" for your instructors? Or is it possible to borrow an LMA to show the instructors PRIVATELY? Gosh, you could even ask that they google "laryngeal mask airway".

[GilaRRT]

You need to remember that nursing is a huge field and not everybody is well versed in every aspect. I cannot say if your instructors are good or bad based on what they know about supraglottic devices. Be respectfull and careful about how you approach this subject. Remember, the LMA and ETC are both considered supraglottic devices and often grouped together. In addition, several types of LMA's exist. Specific types such as the LMA proseal have features that are similar to the ETC, while other types use fiberoptics and camera technology or can be used to perform blind intubation.Heck, I can think of two other devices that look and function like the ETC. The King and the easy tube.I can see how easy it can be to confuse the various devices.

[FlyingScot, RN]

I think if you are going to instruct others about a subject the onus is on you to at least do a little research before you present the topic especially if it is unfamiliar to you. In this day of internet info it would have taken about 5 minutes to get all the information that instructor would have needed to teach advanced airways at this level. There is no excuse for being "clueless" in this day and age.

[RN1989]

Chances are your instructors have been so busy trying to keep their jobs that they have not kept up with advances and new things in healthcare (although airways other than ETTs aren't necessarily new). Many profs that I know have so many ignorant little things that they must do to keep their jobs that the practical things get left behind. Most likely your instructors are not working a second job at a hospital and are not taking ACLS every 2 years.

This scenario just proves to me once again that healthcare is going down the tubes and there doesn't seem to be much anyone can do about it. Nursing students are getting poor educations, they then get out in the real world and see how bad it is and quit nursing. We are short nurses, no one gets trained properly. No one wants to teach nursing because the salary sucks. The schools are pressured to pop out nursing students without adequate training, blah, blah, blah, and the cycle just continues.

[ebear, BSN, RN]

Amen, Sista!!!!

[lvnandmomx3]

I agree that if you are taking on the role of teaching others then you should research what you are supposed to teach. We would be in the middle of a lecture given by a brand new instructor or a "sub" and if a question was asked tha they could not answer the class was told "that is not my specialty area you will just have to reasearch it your self. All I am doing is giving you the info that was given to me." end of conversation.

The Commuter......LMAO I know who you are talking about and FYI he is no longer teaching there......

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

The Commuter......LMAO I know who you are talking about and FYI he is no longer teaching there......

I'm not going to mention his name, as this is a public forum. However, are we both referring to the loud-mouthed Italian guy who taught at the school for many years???

[Rnandsoccermom]

I work with a RN that was going for a procedure at a local hospital that is using LMA's instead of ETT's for short procedures. She politely told her surgeon that she did not want a LMA used during her procedure.

It is important that the instructors know these things. LMA's are being more widely used everywhere.

I also work with a CNA going to nursing school. Her instructor told them that they didn't need to wash their hands after leaving a C-Diff isolation room. The alcohol foam was good enough.

I will be a real b**** if I ever end up in the hospital.