Over the last few months, I've been a little.... (not sure if 'bored' is the correct word, but..)bored with some of the low acuity that I've been assigned. (Acuity- Medical definition- the level of severity of an illness. This is one of the parameters considered in patient classification systems that are designed to serve as guidelines for allocation of nursing staff, to justify staffing decisions, and to aid in long-range projection of staffing and budget. The Medical Dictionary) So I have been requesting high acuity assignments from the charge nurses, so that they are accustomed to me working with more critical patients and will (hopefully) automatically assign me to them. I have been assigned some really great patients as a result of this plan. Recently, I've taken care of an infant with a thorocostomy or chest tube. The chest tube is placed to drain either air or fluid from around an infant's lungs and remove the pressure that is restricting the lungs from achieving full expansion.
The chest tube drains into a collection chamber that is attached to suction or sealed. And the drainage is measured (if there is any).
I have also had a patient on a High Frequency Oscillating Ventilator (HFOV) which is a ventilator (breathing machine) that gives breaths at a greatly increased rate. The usual breathing rate for a conventional ventilator is 40-60 breaths per minute- while the oscillator give 400-600 breaths per minute. This can be useful in several different cases. The HFOV is gentler on the lungs (for the most part) and helps decreased Carbon Dioxide (Co2). The oscillator looks like a very old machine, it's a little crazy how we depend on such old equipment. But it works!
Our conventional ventilators are a little more up-to-date looking though.
