nasal suctioning

[KimblyRN]

Hope someone can help me with this

My unit has implemented a new policy that states we are not supposed to place nasal aspirators or the "boogie suckers" as I see they are being called into the babies nares as it can "cause nasal trauma and bleeding, particularly if the suction is set too high" I have tried this new practice and find it just does not work. Could you share with me the practices that your hospitals use, and any research please

[RainDreamer, BSN, RN]

Do you have those little white tipped mushroom nasal aspirators? They're great!

[KimblyRN]

Do you have those little white tipped mushroom nasal aspirators? They're great!

yep they are the ones we uses and they are great, but not if you keep the tip outside the nose, then it plain does not work. What is the policy at your facility?

[RainDreamer, BSN, RN]

yep they are the ones we uses and they are great, but not if you keep the tip outside the nose, then it plain does not work. What is the policy at your facility?

We use those the way they're designed to be used ...... put them into the nose, as they cause no trauma. I've never seen any nasal trauma or bleeding due to those nasal aspirators. We have our suction set at 80.

[BittyBabyGrower, MSN, RN]

The only thing I can think of is that people must be jamming them up there. We use a little saline before we use ours and haven't had a problem.

[Mimi2RN, ASN, RN]

We use Neosuckers, they work well for us. Also, a little saline helps.

[MA Nurse]

We use Neosuckers, too, I like them better than the olive tip ones. How are you supposed to suction the nares, then? A lot of babies need nasal suctioning, esp. when they are on a nasal cannula.

An RT taught me the best way to suction a nose. Put saline down one side while you suck out the other at the same time. Then repeat. Works great! Saline helps a lot.

[grlgid]

Well what we're supposed to do and what actually happens tends to be two different things. We are only supposed to use the nasal apirators (we have little suckers) more or less in place of the bulb syringe and then deep suction the nares any other time they need suctioning.

But we tend to use the little suckers alot more than the deep suction.

Tina

[Sweeper933]

We use Neosuckers, too, I like them better than the olive tip ones. How are you supposed to suction the nares, then? A lot of babies need nasal suctioning, esp. when they are on a nasal cannula.

An RT taught me the best way to suction a nose. Put saline down one side while you suck out the other at the same time. Then repeat. Works great! Saline helps a lot.

That trick definitely works the best!

[Mimi2RN, ASN, RN]

We use Neosuckers, too, I like them better than the olive tip ones. How are you supposed to suction the nares, then? A lot of babies need nasal suctioning, esp. when they are on a nasal cannula.

An RT taught me the best way to suction a nose. Put saline down one side while you suck out the other at the same time. Then repeat. Works great! Saline helps a lot.

That's what we do, too! You have to suck them out occasionally, or they can't breathe!

We aren't allowed to use the olive tips, which doesn't bother me as I don't like them anyway.

[kitty29]

We use those the way they're designed to be used ...... put them into the nose, as they cause no trauma. I've never seen any nasal trauma or bleeding due to those nasal aspirators. We have our suction set at 80.

Same with use - the brand we are using is called: "Neotech Little Sucker Multipurpose Suction Device, Standard Size Catalog # N205"

[elizabells, BSN, RN]

We don't have the olive tips on our unit, but I loooooooove the Little Suckers. They're so great for the gluey oral secretions our long-term intubated kids get, since we intubate nasally. They're good for the reflux, foamy not-quite-emesis stuff too. I keep one in my bag of tricks, the one full of stuff that's sometimes hard to find on the unit.

ETA: They're also awesome to let the parents participate a little. I don't think we're supposed to let them suction with catheters (and I've never had any want to), but the Little Suckers give them a way to help take care of the baby and make her more comfortable.