Suctioning Question

I honestly cannot recall a time in the past 11 years when I've had to orally suction someone with a trach.

But, as Rose_Queen said, it's not like you're going to be suctioning a trach with a yankauer or a mouth with a catheter.

I honestly cannot recall a time in the past 11 years when I've had to orally suction someone with a trach.

All. The. Time. Many trached adults who have also suffered some sort of CVA have difficulty managing oral secretions.

Both, if unruffled trach I like to suction trach first......and the mouth pharynx with like a yanker......even unruffled I like to doo trach first

I m an icu nurse .we use same tubing but with a y connector for oral and tracheal auctioning.we use yanker for mouth .we should clear mouth first as it can be aspirated if too much collection ,also if u didn't clear mouth first it will splash when pt coughs while doing tracheal suction.

This is my practical experience.

I hope it will help you

Hi! I'm a respiratory stepdown nurse and I suction trachs on the regular. Generally you suction the trach first. This will cause the patient to cough, causing a buildup of secretions in their mouth. I always have a yankauer nearby ready to go so I can pull the suction cath off (and dispose) and pop the yankauer on. I don't recommend putting the same catheter in their mouth and it probably won't work as well anyway. Remember to always do good oral care on your trached patients. I hope this helps!

Do you guys use in-line suctioning? I imagine most of your patients are vented. On unvented patients, we generally use a new sterile catheter for each time we suction. The splitter can be helpful. With more tenacious secretions I'll usually set up a separate container for each so I can get maximum (safe) suction on each one. When those secretions are thick, it's a nightmare.

Each time u have to use new catheter.but yanker no need.after use u will irrigate it wilth irrigation saline . tracheostomy suction is a sterile one ,not to introduce organisms

Hi! I'm a respiratory stepdown nurse and I suction trachs on the regular. Generally you suction the trach first. This will cause the patient to cough, causing a buildup of secretions in their mouth. I always have a yankauer nearby ready to go so I can pull the suction cath off (and dispose) and pop the yankauer on. I don't recommend putting the same catheter in their mouth and it probably won't work as well anyway. Remember to always do good oral care on your trached patients. I hope this helps!

My trached peds patients tend to hack loogies out of their trachs rather than pool secretions in their mouths.

What nurses do in real life may not match what nurses are supposed to do per NCLEX :) This is what Saunders says:

Suction oropharynx/oral care first

Pre-oxygenate with 100 Fi02

Suction

Oxygenate again and auscultate the lungs

There is a lot of bacteria in the mouth, and if you don't do oral suction first you may introduce bacteria into the respiratory tract.

What nurses do in real life may not match what nurses are supposed to do per NCLEX :) This is what Saunders says:

Suction oropharynx/oral care first

Pre-oxygenate with 100 Fi02

Suction

Oxygenate again and auscultate the lungs

This ^^^^^. Remember you are studying about NCLEX nursing, what is done outside of the NCLEX is irrelevant. Sometimes what is used for the NCLEX may not truly be applicable outside of the exam. Take what Saunders stated, compare it to another NCLEX study material just to be sure there is consistency.