Tracheotomy Care

What Is Tracheotomy Care Nursing and How Does It Work?

A patient who has gone through the tracheostomy definitely needs help and support at optimal levels to help them get through this and prevent further complications from the same. Nurses in rehabilitation centres deal with patients who suffer from various ailments through different stages of their processes of recovery and one such special care facility provided is for patients who have undergone tracheostomy. Tracheostomy is majorly a temporary procedure and with successfully administered care and therapy, they can definitely show good improvement.

Tracheostomy care nursing is a set of protocols followed by skilled nurses that ensure the safety, comfort, and well-being of the patients taking into account the various after-effects of the tracheostomy on the patient’s current health and functioning status. The need for such a service is paramount for patients to make sure that they are able to recover from their primary illness as well. To understand the type of care that the nurses have to provide for the patients with tracheostomy we need to take a look at what a procedure of tracheostomy actually does to the patient and understand the complications of tracheostomy.

Complications of Tracheostomy and How Tracheostomy Nursing Care Helps Such Patients.

The main problem and the most obvious one that affects the patient in multiple ways is that their primary means of communication is cut off during tracheostomy. During the procedure, the primary and only concern becomes to ensure that a functional airway that is patent enough to guarantee that the patient can respire without additional discomfort. However once that is done and the patient is out of immediate threat, depending on why the patient had breathing problems in the first place, the tube might be required for a while. This hinders the patient’s ability to communicate their needs with anyone as they are unable to produce comprehensive speech or even clear enough sounds. Unless the tubes have been placed above the vocal cords such, which isn’t how it usually is, this problem with communication makes it unsafe for the patient to be taken home where they cannot practically be provided with constant attention and care as they would in a proper facility where constant medical and nursing supervision is provided to them.

In normal nursing; these patients are constantly monitored and the nurses facilitate moderately effective communication through written and other means of nonverbal communications that will be of aid to the patient in knowing if they’re uncomfortable in any way, to which the nurses can attend accordingly.

However, the nurses who are trained in tracheostomy care nursing are trained to lip read and comprehend what the patient wishes to indicate without having the patient take much effort or exert themselves. This guarantees a constant stream of communication and emphasises on why it is best for the patient to be under the supervision of these nurses because the safety of the patient is the first priority. A fast and effective channel of communication guarantees that no complication or adverse event goes missed due to lack of the patient’s ability to let someone know how they feel.

This lack of communication also causes a lot of anxiety and trouble to the patient who finds it not just uncomfortable in a physical manner but also extremely distressing to not be able to perform one of the most basic functions- this on top of the other effects of their primary condition results in a poor state of mind of the patients. Emotional and mental support to the patient directly from the caregiver plays a massive role in comforting such patients and making them feel more secure and safe and remove some amount of the anxiety that they are going through at the given time. Tracheostomy Nursing care trains the nurses to be there for the patient and help them through their bouts of anxiety and instills in them the importance of empathy being embedded with the physical support and care.

Apart from this, there are further complications that follow a tracheotomy procedure. Among these, the displacement of the tube is one of supreme concern as it can affect the breathing of the patient. Tracheostomy care nurses are well adapted to prevent the dislocation of the tube from occurring and dealing with the occurrence of the same when it does.

Besides these, the physiotherapy nurses who have had training are able to position the patients and advise the families on the same so as to guarantee the safety of the patient and continued proper functioning of the tracheostomy tube. Constant supervision and assessment of the patient’s recovery is also a part of the service.

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