split-second decisions are scary
i've had the same non-verbal, quad, brain aneurysm, trach, tube fed patient for the past two weeks. she has an incredible back-story and very complicated care so she'll be used for my panel case study presentation in nursing seminar in a few weeks.
despite the fact that i hadn't validated or even practiced the tracheotomy suctioning tecnique on a simulator dummy (let alone a real person! ) while flushing meds through her PEG tube, all of a sudden this poor woman was gasping for breathe and started turning purple from the all the secretion backup.
so there i go hyperoxygenating her, occluding the airway, and maneavering the suctioning tube throughout her trach using intermittent suction. what else was i suppose to do? let her suffocate in her own secretions? i was terrified. hell, she was terrified.
thankfully, my clinical instructor arrived after what seemed like a year and finished it up. she was like, "well...um...i guess you're validated!"
an angel was watching over me and ms. L