LTC trach patient and no suitable suction catheters

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I went to suction my LTC trach patient last night and found only rigid Yankauer suction catheters in my trach patient's bedside drawer. Umm rigid Yankauer suction catheters don't fit into trachs!!!!!:eek:

Thank God I had a spare suction catheter in my "nursing bag" that I bring to work. I went to our central supply and of course we didn't have any suction catheters that would be suitable for any trach patients!!!! We have 4 trach patients at this LTC!!!

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

There is noexcuse for this. When we review a potential admission, we use a form on which we indicate any special needs or equipment. We make sure it's ordered before the resident arrives.

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I agree. There is no excuse for this. This LTC facility is unbelievable!:(

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Specializes in Med/Surg,Cardiac.

Eek. I'm glad you come prepared but Geez, that's crazy! My hospital ran out of flushes for a night. I wish I had an old school attachment so I could have drawn up my own. Luckily I had some flushes stashed in my locker that I shared. Speaking of which, I need to reload that stash =)

~ No One Can Make You Feel Inferior Without Your Consent -Eleanor Roosevelt ~

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Yes Thank God I have my "hidden stash" too. The other nurses get jealous. They will say "OMG Where did you find that?' I just reply "Oh I guess I must have just gotten lucky today."

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Specializes in Assisted Living nursing, LTC/SNF nursing.

Be careful Blackcatt, being "being lucky today' may just get you fired tomorrow for taking some of the NH's property home with you. It just seems you can't win though.

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WOW! That's horrible and I would think twice about working for a place who stocked supplies like that.

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Specializes in Clinical Documentation Specialist, LTC.

I worked at a LTC years ago where the nurses frequently ended up having to buy insulin syringes and needles out of their own pockets, and laundry was often not done because there was no electricity. It was ridiculous and needless to say, I got the heck outta' Dodge. Thank God someone else bought it and completely changed it for the better. The former owner was greedy and wouldn't spend money on the residents or the facility. Oddly enough, nursing was paid well.

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Does the facility have any crash carts? We have one on each floor that is checked by the night nurse every night so that we are ready to go if there's a code. Those carts should have at least a couple of suction catheters as well as a suction machine on them, to be used in an emergency. After that, I'd be speaking to the DON or central supply person and providing a par list of supplies that should be kept at that resident's bedside at all times. It will be up to the person ordering supplies to see that enough trach supplies are ordered each week to keep up that par level.

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