What are some of the nurses views on Hyperbaric Medicine?

renerian, BSN, RN · Aug 10, 2003

They wanted to try hyperbaric when my mom was dying of that flesh eating bacterial disease. She was on a vent and someone on a vent could not fit in the chamber.

I have no exposure to it otherwise.

Good question though.

renerian

lindalee · Aug 10, 2003

There are ventilators specifically designed for hyperbaric chambers. I had many advanced classes in hyperbaric medicine. The chamber can be life saving in these diseases (including gas gangrene) as it not only oxygenates the tissue but also inactivates the toxins that are being produced. These patients are difficult to treat. We always paralyzed ventilated patients for the duration of the treatment because if they start to breath stack they will have a pneumothorax and can rapidly die. You must be in complete control of their breathing and closely monitor the volumes are they will change rapidly during pressure changes. We had arterial lines in place, used transcutaneous tissue monitoring, cardiac monitors--basically all the normal ICU equipment. A hyperbaric RN attended the patient as well as respiratory therapist trained in hyperbaric medicine and in the use of this ventilator. Some of my scariest moments in nursing were during these very difficult treatments

mackrn · Dec 24, 2003

Just for the record I have treated many patients in the hyperbaric chamber with ventilators. It's just that some types of monoplace chambers do not have approved ventilators for them. If it was a Sechrist Monoplace chamber and they said they couldn't treat, it was due to the staff not wanting to treat critical care patients.

renerian, BSN, RN · Dec 24, 2003

I wish they would have had a vent one when my mom was dying. I do not think it would have saved her though.\

I think it would be an awesome specialty.

renerian

chrnnurseny · Mar 6, 2004

Just for the record I have treated many patients in the hyperbaric chamber with ventilators. It's just that some types of monoplace chambers do not have approved ventilators for them. If it was a Sechrist Monoplace chamber and they said they couldn't treat, it was due to the staff not wanting to treat critical care patients.

If they had a Sechrist and couldnt treat it may not have been because they didnt want to, it could have been because they didnt have the vent piece!! We had 2 Sechrist chambers, neither one had the vent connection.

mackrn · Aug 3, 2004

If they had a Sechrist and couldnt treat it may not have been because they didnt want to, it could have been because they didnt have the vent piece!! We had 2 Sechrist chambers, neither one had the vent connection.

If the unit wanted to treat critical care patients they would have the vent connection and the appropriate equipment. The connection is easy to install and can be done by the bio-med people in your hospital.

Dawn M · Aug 18, 2004

Kallie -

I am not a nurse, but I am a hyperbaric technician and a nursing student. THe reimbursment from the government doesn't have anything to do with your pay as a nurse. Your salary is negotiated by your employer and the government payment you referred to pertains to Medicare. True they are only reimbursing 700 per treatment - which may be being cut beginning of next year (FYI). However depending on the facility you are working for/with reimbursement is negotieated with each insurance comapny and reimbursement ranges from 50 - 100% of whatever the hospital has determined treatment cost is. As a nurse that does not necessarily directly effect you. The issue with HBO nursing is how involved you wish to be or how involved your employers wants you to be. Our nurse presently does only critical dives, reviews charts and recently has been working in burn care to help recruit more patients for our facility. Other facilities especially those with monoplace chambers have nurses running the chambers, performing wound care, writing care plans and educating the patients. Opportunities exist where you can work part time as an HBO nurse to be on call for critical dives. The field is exciting and growing and one reason I am giong into nursing is to better assist and care for my HBO patients. I would reccommend the position to every nurse. You just have to negotiate your salary and determine if the work load is acceptable and satisfying enough for you!

Best of luck and feel free to write again :)

God Bless!

Dawn M

MAnders1405 · Mar 8, 2005

Hi Again,
I would really like to have some of the nurses opinions on Hyperbaric Medicine.
Do you think that this is a field that a nurse should devote her/his time? Is Hyperbaric Medicine a worth while speciality? Is Hyperbaric Medicine really worth the expense that the Government is paying per patient treatment? (approx:$700.00) per treatment.
Please respond if you have helpful comments, (or if you have not so helpful comments.)
Thanks

Hyperbaric therapy is a growing specialty field. There is some discussion on what medical credential would make the best Hyperbaric Therapy Technician. Some say that it is best for nursing and others say respiratory therapy. We have 5 chambers here in Cape Girardeau MO. 3 at one hospital and 2 at the other. One department has nurses and the other has RTs. I am sure it is like that all over the nation.

MermaidRN · Mar 8, 2005

I've never worked in a hyperbaric area, but I have seen great results. I remember in particular a patient with severe necrotizing fasciitis who received hyperbaric treatment... his outcome was truly amazing.

mackrn · Mar 9, 2005

Hyperbaric therapy is a growing specialty field. There is some discussion on what medical credential would make the best Hyperbaric Therapy Technician. Some say that it is best for nursing and others say respiratory therapy. We have 5 chambers here in Cape Girardeau MO. 3 at one hospital and 2 at the other. One department has nurses and the other has RTs. I am sure it is like that all over the nation.

I have been involved in hyperbaric medicine for over 20 years and have started up units all over the country, published in articles and one of the contributing authors for the only textbook on Hyperbaric Nursing. The best staffing of a unit is a mixture of RN's and RT's, with an emphasis on RN's to be more cost effective. In addition to dealing with critical care dives where a nurse has to be present, dealing with IV's, wound care and patient assessment is more of a nursing domain and not in the scope of practice for RT's.

Hyperbaric medicine is highly effective if used properly and patients properly evaluated before treatment. Have treated patients from all aspects of the hospital continuum, with a heavy emphasis on non-healing wound and radiation injuries,

MommyJoy · Mar 18, 2005

Hi Again,
I would really like to have some of the nurses opinions on Hyperbaric Medicine.
Do you think that this is a field that a nurse should devote her/his time? Is Hyperbaric Medicine a worth while speciality? Is Hyperbaric Medicine really worth the expense that the Government is paying per patient treatment? (approx:$700.00) per treatment.
Please respond if you have helpful comments, (or if you have not so helpful comments.)
Thanks

I am a firm believer in HBO. Without going into too much detail, I will tell you that HBO has been a life saver for my aunt. She has had three tremendous wounds in which the only cure was HBO. Her first wound was on her leg. For over 2 years she was treated by the finest physicians that our city had to offer. They were never successful in getting her wound better, instead it got worse. My family heard about HBO offered in Kansas City. My aunt received HBO treatment for about 4 months and her wound healed. Her second episode came when she contacted staph infection while in the hospital. The staph was so bad that her physicians had scheduled amputation of her arm up to the elbow. In attempts to get rid of the staph. they had slit her arm from wrist to elbow and were using a wound vacuum to drain the infection. Once my family and I realized she was going to use her arm, we had her transferred back to Kansas City. She was in the hospital for over 2 months, but now her arm is free of the infection and the skin grafts are holding. This was all becaue of the HBO treatment. Her last encounter with HBO was not as serious, but again it was the only thing that would help.

HBO is a wonderful alternative for patients who are suffering with wounds.