Respiratory Therapy Reflection

About a year ago, I came home from work one night and walked into the kitchen to where my mother was standing. There was a feeling of uneasiness and the panic began to clench my stomach. She looked so sad, so stressed; maybe it was the frizzy hair, the bags beneath her eyes, the way her back slouched in a low negative curve, or her eyes. Her eyes looked at me before she turned them away, but in that fragment of a second, it’s almost like I could look inside her narrow eyes and search until I would come upon this thing. This thing has no name, but it scares her. She wouldn’t exactly explain to me what it was but I felt the sudden movements of uncertainty with the way she shifted her body and

Ever since I was a little girl I wanted to help people, from a Doctor to a Pediatrician, even an X-ray Technician. As I got older I realized my true calling was in Respiratory Therapy. The human body is such an incredible thing and I found myself wanting to learn more and more about it.

Respiratory Therapy is a health profession that specializes in Cardio Pulmonary functions and health. Respiratory therapists help with prevention, assessing patients, treatment, diagnostic evaluation, education, and care. They treat patients from all ages, from babies to the elderly. The requirements in becoming a Respiratory Therapist are taking Human Anatomy, Chemistry, Pharmacology, Microbiology, and Mathematics at a high school or college level. To begin the Respiratory Therapy Program out of high school you have to have a C or better in Chemistry, Anatomy, Algebra 2 minimum, and English. If these courses were not taken in high school, they would need to be taken at the college level to complete the prerequisites to apply for

First of all, in order to improve patient safety, staffing levels need to be appropriate. In this case, as the patient load increased, the staffing level did not. There was only one RN and on LPN on duty. As a proponent of acuity based staffing, I would have a system in place that allowed for staff to be assigned based on a patient acuity scoring system that would be implemented, that would staff the unit not only based on the number of patients but also for the care required. In this case we have a patient that requires constant monitoring, as well as another emergent respiratory distress patient. Had another nurse been assigned to the unit, Nurse J, who was trained in conscious sedation, would have been able to adhere to the existing policy and provide constant monitoring of Mr. B which most likely would have avoided the outcome presented in this scenario.

Vital observations were carried out efficiently, they were recorded every 15 minutes and a cardiac monitor was attached to continuously monitor for any deterioration. As a student nurse I assisted by recording vital observations using NEWS and assessing consciousness by using the Glasgow coma scale to ensure there were no signs of brain trauma (Le Roux, Levine and Kofke, 2013). In line with the NMC, my mentor supervised and countersigned my observations (NMC, 2011b). I promoted good patient safety as deterioration would be recognised early and appropriate care provided. Throughout the treatment process I witnessed and provided person centred care. Nursing and medical staff continuously checked patient comfort and obtained consent for treatment being provided.

Additionally, the care environment developed a hazard when the patient population increased both in number and acuity with the admission of the acute respiratory distress patient and increasing patient load in the lobby without note of available back up staff being called in. Examples of errors from the flow chart comparison might include failure to assess and monitor when Nurse J initiates blood pressure and SpO2 measurements, fails to initiate ECG with respiration monitoring, fails to administer supplemental O2, and leaves the room without apparently noting the baseline of the patient2. Furthermore, there appears to be an error in the lack of communication collaboration between the RN and LPN regarding Mr. B’s post procedure status and monitoring needs, and there is a failure to rescue when the LPN notes the low SpO2 value, fails to respond, and instead re-initiates another blood pressure reading without noting the results. As Mr. B’s condition deteriorates and a code is called, an ACLS error is observed in the timeline when the patient is noted first to have absent pulse and respirations and that a monitor is next applied and the patient and displays ventricular fibrillation. Chest compressions appear to not have been the first action in this scenario, nor is end tidal CO2 monitoring noted as initiated to monitor the quality of compressions. These are examples of hazards and errors in the care of Mr. B and in an actual RCA the level of detail would likely turn up

On Thursday 12/24/2015 at approximately 2307 hours. Security Officer Omar Alonso (420) was contacted by E.D. Charge Nurse Sharey Selover about an uncooperative intoxicated male patient, Jose D. Gonzalez (DOB: 03/30/1977; FIN# 85006354), come in through the EMS Offload area. Officers Alonso and Ayuso reported to the call and observed an intoxicated male being wheeled into the Special Care Unit (SCU) E.D. room # 39. According to his assigned Nurse Sara Lopez, the patient had been involved in a physical altercation and had been kicked hard in the groin area. Patient did not behave badly or disruptive once he saw that Security were present and his Nurse was able to get his vitals, blood work, and urine without having any issues. Security staff

On Thursday 07/21/2016 at approximately 2223 hours, Security Supervisor Steven Evans was contacted by Assistant Nurse Manager Robbie Philips via landline and asked to conduct a (44V) Enforcement Escort Visitor Off Property for the discharged female patient in E.D. #48. The patient, Susan Harris (DOB: 03/22/1952), had been quarrelsome and refusing to leave. SOs Christopher Paz and Ariel Weiland responded to the scene. Upon arrival, we observed the patient laying down on her bed, we approached the discharged patient and spoke with her. Mrs. Harris agreed to leave without further incident. Security staff escorted Mrs. Harris outside of the E.D. lobby at which time she requested to stay in the lobby till 0530 hours. No incident occurred during

On Saturday 12/10/2016 at approximately 2028 hours, East Security staff was dispatched to the Special Care Unit room #40 in reference to a (51S) Patient Standby in ED. Security Officers Omar Alonso and I, Steven Evans responded to the scene. Upon arrival, we made contact with E.D. Nurse Jacquelyn Vaninguen who stated, she needed Security to stand by while she performed an EKG on the patient, Debra Lynn Bolger (DOB: 06/28/58 – Fin #86564069). Nurse Vaninguen entered the room and awoke the Baker Act Patient while Security stood by outside the room. Once EKG completed, upon leaving the patient became irate and attempted to leave her room at which time, I had to physically redirect the patient back to her bed. Nurse Vaninguen stated, she needed

By entering the field of respiratory therapy, one is entering a growing field of opportunity. There are continually emergent job opportunities in this field whereas there is also a rise of growth in the technology and developments in the field such as medicines, techniques, and other aspects.

Respiratory therapists have one of the most exciting and gratifying careers within the medical field. Unfortunately as with any other job or career, it doesn’t come without having challenging times. Respiratory therapists work along-side physicians and are highly trained to treat patients with any sort of lung concern or breathing complications. This job requires hands on care, and deals with life and death daily. One specific scope of this field involves caring for patients (of all ages) attached to mechanical ventilation. It is the respiratory therapists’ responsibility to remove assistive ventilation to patients with written order from the doctor; which ultimately results in death of the patient (Keene, Samples, Masini, Byington).

I was always passionate about becoming a healthcare professional because of the role healthcare professional play in improving the lives of people. As most, if not all of body functions revolve around the respiratory process, respiratory therapy was the occupation, within the healthcare field I have been professing for over a decade now. My choice to be a respiratory therapist helps fortify my burning desire to contribute in making a difference in the life of the people with whom I come in contact. The learning spectrum in the respiratory therapy occupation varies from interpersonal communication, as well as, peer coaching. While I have acquired a strong level of skill set to excel as a respiratory therapist and as an undergraduate in Bioinformatics,

Respiratory therapy is a practice that specializes in helping people who are having issues with their respiratory system and pulmonary system. In this field I could help people in all age groups, from infants to seniors who are dealing with diseases like asthma, bronchitis and emphysema or have issues with the heart or were born prematurely who are having a hard time breathing (explore health careers, n.d.). Diagnostics would be done to see what is wrong with the patient to determine what type of treatment a patient would receive (Career Information n.d). The respiratory therapist can also give the patients who are having chronic illnesses instructions and teach them how to deal with their disease to give them a longer and more comfortable life.

Giving an accurate and detailed report to the nurse at the new facility is very important. Several times at night I have received phone calls from other facilities needing more information. Im usually unable to provide information because the shift nurse is usually gone. Events like that should never occur. It make my place of employment look bad and negative patient outcomes can occur if the new nurse doesn’t know what is going on with patient. During a monthly meeting my supervisor addressed the issue and stated a detailed report should be given to the nurse and the patient. All information including the discharge summary should be given to the patient and the new facility. Since the problem was addressed we haven’t had any

Description: I have been working on the night shift in our ward. Upon arrival from the nurses station at around 2130 and received a handover, the evening nurse then left at around 2145. The handover was brief and basic; also it tackles all the important points that I need to know about the patients. After receiving handover from the outgoing nurse, I also received a ward handover as an in charge for the night shift. After completing the ward handover, I started with my initial rounds into one of my patients. The infusion pump was making a “downstream occlusion” noise, prior to that during handover, I heard a beeping sounds coming from one of the rooms in our ward but we ignored it. When I pointed the torch into the pump and examined the IV lines, I noticed that the administration rate of total parenteral nutrition or TPN rate seemed to be different from what was handed over to me. To make sure that the rate is correct or incorrect, I shuffled through the bedside notes. I looked for the TPN chart and found that the TPN bag had been changed at around 1700 with a different rate. It was more than four hours after the TPN bag was hung and administered at an incorrect rate.