I'm on week 5-6 of my orientation. I've already been taking vented kids, which really freaks me out because I've read on here that some people didn't take vents until after 6 months - a year. So I hope I'm not getting too much too soon.
My preceptor and the RTs have been absolutely AWESOME in explaining the vents, the settings, how to position, etc. It makes sense when they explain it, but once I'm standing there looking at all the numbers by myself I'm like *WHAT THE HECK does all that mean?*
The pip and the peep and the rate and the tidal volumes and everything else .... they explain all that, but I'm still clueless. I know it will take a long time, but I'm just wondering if there is anything out there that can help me understand this better. I'm a visual learner, so it helps to see things and SEE how they work together. I tried googling stuff and can't seem to come up with anything that explains it well enough. Any books or websites that you guys can think of that would help me to understand this better?
Also, just understanding the difference between the different vents would be a huge help too. A couple of the vents look similiar, but one has a "partner". I just don't understand the difference and why a baby would have to go on one rather than the other. Last night I had a baby that was originally on a regular vent, but she had a really crappy gas, so they put her on the jet. Wow, that was overwhelming. And then my preceptor is explaining that you have to watch the servo pressure on the jet because if it changes (I can't remember which direction) then it could mean they're developing a pneumothorax.
Whew, so much to know. I just want to be able to have a basic understanding of some of this so I can have an idea of what's going on. The RTs are great and do all the vent stuff, but I want to know what to watch for and know what's going on with my vented babies.
Any help would be great, if you could stear me in a direction so I could get some information that could help me understand, that would be great. Thanks!
