Suctioning

I'm currently on a cardio placement in a hospital with a lot of ventilated patients (either via trachy's or ETT's). When i started this placement i gathered that i would probably have to perform some suctioning. I was a little worried about this as in our cardio prac class is seemed a little daunting when we had to put tubes up each others noses and i have that memory embedded in my head. I didn't want to really perform the procedure because i thought it would cause discomfort to the patient and also i didn't really trust myself to do it adequately.



I had to perform my first suction on a patient on the first full day of my clinic. I didn't really have any time to comprehend that i was worried about this so i just went ahead and followed our supervisors instructions and performed my first suction.



It really surprised me about my reaction to the procedure. I thought i wouldn't like performing it and even thought i might struggle with not feeling nauseous etc. while performing it. I was shocked by how non invasive it felt. It was all so sanitary and the sputum was well contained within the suction tube and the patients cough wasn't too vigorous so they didn't appear in discomfort at all.



As i have suctioned people more throughout this prac i have found that different people have a stronger cough reflex than others and there is a large variance of secretions between patients as well. Although i always new that suctioning was a relevant treatment necessary for some cardio patients i naively hoped i would never have to perform it myself due to my pre conceived ideas about the process.

I always new about its relevance in treatment for cardio patients especially intubated patients who have trouble clearing secretions independently and now i have been able to experience first hand the difference it can make in someone who is unable to clear their secretions and i have also changed my ideas about suctioning being a "scary" procedure. I now consider it to be not scary at all and the difference in auscultation after suctioning is sometimes remarkable.

In the future i will not hesitate to suction a patient if it is indicated as i now realise it is not a procedure that i need to be scared of and it really does work.