lajean

So many circuits so little time... I would team up with an RT. See if you can get one of those folks to show you the ins-and-outs. Get your paws on a vent and play with it: make adjustments, take it apart, put it back together again, have someone switch things around on you - and then go to it and fix it. Do this over and over again until you know it as well as you can count to ten. Good to hook it up to a test lung also.

No more than 15 seconds of continuous suction to the airway. (Unless they changed the rules...). Of course, it may seem alot longer than 15 seconds when you're new at it, and you may think you're gonna suck their lungs right out of 'em - but 15 seconds is generally the rule. Oh yeah, almost forgot to tell ya...that has to be while withdrawing the catheter. Don't apply suction until you are ready to withdraw - that is when your 15 seconds begin. Use KY and it is always good to pre-oxygenate and post-oxygenate the patient when suctioning the lungs. Better to be save than sorry - use sterile technique whenever you suction. Just FYI - Call Respiratory.

As far as the RT's not responding to wean, do vent changes, or ABG's, well it is 99% usually one of two things; 1. extremely short staffed and only two therapists are on for the enitre house or 2. the therapist assigned to our unit (CVICU) is out in the butt hut. Short staffed seems to be more and more the case these days. Giving Respiratory a bad name!

I'll be honest. I've drawn many many ABG's (15 yrs worth). If you have a strong pulse, and the RT hasn't had too much coffee, it should be like any other blood draw - just a poke. Weak pulses are harder to get (the draw is blind, unlike drawing from the visible vein). Excess coffee makes for shakey hands - therefore shakey needle into artery (ouch).

Purchasing your own Pulse Oximeter for patient care in the hospital...I would recommend checking with your supervisor, AND biomed first. Some hospitals have specific requirements for equipment used. One of those requirement being that you use hospital equipment on hospital patients. Liability issues, etc...

All I'm reading here is alot of jabbing at RT's. It seems that many RT's have made bad names for themselves, therefore ALL RT's are grouped in with those bad ones. RT's are..well...important. They spend the majority of their two-years education (not including pre-req's) completely focused on the cardiopulmonary system and how it is effected and how it effects other systems...period. They are VERY specialized. RN's on the otherhand spend their two-years education (not including pre-req's) covering ALL of the bodies systems. They should be knowledgeable of the RN's job, just as the RN should be knowledgeable of the RT's, but neither should be doing the others job. Instead, they should work together, share information, help the other, etc... The whole thing is about patient care, and patient outcome...not about whether or not the RT took a break, or whether or not the nurse can make a change on the vent. If the nurse is qualified to make a vent change, then do it - big deal. The RT shouldn't have a problem with that. What if that RT is busy in a code, unavailable to make a simple vent change? It should be ok and acceptable for a knowledgeable and qualified nurse to do what needs to be done. This does not give the therapist freedom to take a two hour lunch, however. The nurse should let the RT do his/her job. Sounds like a big territorial contest when it is divided into who does what, who can and cannot do this or that, who took a break, and who called the doctor. Get over it folks! If things are so hard to determine who does what, and it is such a huge issue - look up the job descriptions, and perhaps the licensing board outlined scope of practice. How about this, we focus where focus is needed, on the patient. If a co-worker happens to be a slacker - so what! Don't let it ruin your shift - or cause detriment to your patient. Do what needs to be done. By the way, I am a Respiratory Therapist with 15 years of experience. I am also a nursing student. I will be an RN in the near future, as well as an experienced Respiratory Therapist. I hope to encourage and influence team work, dispense with territorialism, and increase collaboration between the two departments.

I am an RRT with 15 years of experience. I am also currently back in school to get my RN. If I knew then what I know now, I would have gone the RN route in the first place. Don't get me wrong, being an RT is a good job, and can be very rewarding. However, it gets a bit 'old' after awhile. There aren't the various avenues of practice that an RN has. Less opportunity for lateral movement. Pay increases are smaller and less frequent than that of a nurse. Respiratory is very specialized, if you like variety - go for nursing. If you like monotonous - try respiratory. That is not to say that Respiratory is boring or unimportant...we are a very important part of the healthcare team. Angie