Can TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition) be Given at Home?
https://intensivecareathome.com/can-tpn-total-parenteral-nutrition-be-given-at-home/
Can TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition) be Given at Home?
Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here
http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/
Call directly 24/7
+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada
+44 118 324 3018 UK
+6141 094 2230 Australia
Email support@intensivecarehotline.com
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Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/
https://intensivecareathome.com
And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline
Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline
#icu
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In this week’s blog I want to answer another question that we get quite frequently from our readers and clients
Can TPN (total parenteral nutrition) be given at home?
A question we get quite frequently by our readers and also by our clients is if intravenous nutrition, also known as TPN (total parenteral nutrition) can be given at home?
The short answer is yes.
Let me elaborate.
TPN or Total Parenteral Nutrition is intravenous nutrition that can only be given via a central venous catheter (CVC) or via a PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) line.
Fairly often Patients in Intensive Care have to be nil by mouth (NBM) for situations like intubation, abdominal surgery, ileus (bowel obstruction), Nasogastric or PEG feed intolerance to name a few.
Whenever nasogastric feeds or PEG feeds can’t be given to meet nutritional demands, TPN or total parenteral nutrition needs to be given via a central venous catheter (CVC) or a PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) line in order to meet nutritional demands.
There can sometimes be a 24 hour time window between stopping PEG or Nasogastric feeds and commencing TPN depending on the availability of TPN. Sometimes Pharmacy needs to prepare TPN first.
Once TPN has been commenced, regular blood tests including the check for blood Glucose and Electrolytes needs to be monitored.
A new TPN intravenous giving set needs to be used every 24 hours to maintain infection control standards. A new TPN giving set needs to be attached...
Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/can-tpn-total-parenteral-nutrition-be-given-at-home/
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Side Effects of Long Term Ventilation at Home and in Intensive Care or LTAC
https://intensivecareathome.com/side-effects-of-long-term-ventilation-at-home-and-in-intensive-care-or-ltac/
Side Effects of Long Term Ventilation at Home and in Intensive Care or LTAC
Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here
http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/
Call directly 24/7
+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada
+44 118 324 3018 UK
+6141 094 2230 Australia
Email support@intensivecarehotline.com
Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy
1:1 phone counselling
http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/
Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care
https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/
Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/
https://intensivecareathome.com
And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/
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In this week’s blog I want to make a comparison that most long-term ventilated Patients and their families can resonate with
Side effects of Long Term Ventilation at home and in Intensive care or LTAC
Anybody who has ever had a loved one in intensive care (or long-term acute care/LTAC) on long-term ventilation with tracheostomy knows about the undesired side effects.
Intensive care units also know about the side effects of having Patients in intensive care that are a slow ventilation and slow tracheostomy wean.
Let’s just take a Patient who has Guillan Barre syndrome and therefore requires mechanical ventilation and tracheostomy and a prolonged stay in intensive care for prolonged ventilation and tracheostomy weaning.
After I have worked in intensive care for 20 years in three different countries, I have seen a few Guillan Barre syndrome Patients that stayed in Intensive Care for ventilation and tracheostomy weaning for way too long.
Especially with a successful and proven concept such as INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME, intensive home care would have been a much better alternative.
So what are the side effects of weaning a Guillan Barre syndrome Patient off mechanical ventilation and tracheostomy in intensive care as opposed to weaning a Guillan Barre syndrome Patient off mechanical ventilation and tracheostomy at home?
I’m glad you’ve asked...
Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/side-effects-of-long-term-ventilation-at-home-and-in-intensive-care-or-ltac/
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My Husband has been in ICU 4 Months, He Needs TPN and has a Tracheostomy. Can He Go Home?
My Husband has been in ICU 4 Months, He Needs TPN and has a Tracheostomy. Can He Go Home?
Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here
http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/
Call directly 24/7
+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada
+44 118 324 3018 UK
+6141 094 2230 Australia
Email support@intensivecarehotline.com
Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy
1:1 phone counselling
http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/
Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care
https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/
Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/
https://intensivecareathome.com
And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline
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#criticalcare
2
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Can You be Discharged Home from Hospital with Ventilator, Tracheostomy and Feeding Tube?
https://intensivecareathome.com/can-you-be-discharged-from-hospital-with-ventilator-tracheostomy-and-feeding-tube/
Can You be Discharged Home from Hospital with Ventilator, Tracheostomy and Feeding Tube?
Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here
http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/
Call directly 24/7
+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada
+44 118 324 3018 UK
+6141 094 2230 Australia
Email support@intensivecarehotline.com
Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy
1:1 phone counselling
http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/
Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care
https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/
Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/
https://intensivecareathome.com
And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline
Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline
#icu
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#criticalcare
In this week’s blog I want to answer a question that we get quite frequently from our readers and also clients
Can you be discharged home from hospital with ventilator, tracheostomy and feeding tube?
Many families in intensive care have loved ones in ICU/PICU with long-term ventilation and tracheostomy requirements.
Their loved ones usually experience either difficulties, delays or complete failure in weaning off the ventilator and tracheostomy.
What are the reasons for mechanical ventilation and tracheostomy?
Causes of admission to ICU/PICU for mechanical ventilation and tracheostomy are: acute respiratory failure with underlying chronic co-morbidities 176 (24.4%); exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease 222 (34.4%); neuromuscular diseases 200 (27.8%) (i.e. Guillan Barre syndrome, Motor neuron disease or MND); surgical patients 77 (10.7%); thoracic dysmorphism 28 (3.8%); obstructive sleep apnea syndrome 16 (2.2%). Percutaneous tracheostomies were 65.9%. Major complications after tracheostomy were 2%. 427 tracheostomies were evaluated for decannulation: 96 (22.5%) were closed; 175 patients (41%) were discharged with home mechanical ventilation; 114 patients (26.5%) maintained the tracheostomy despite weaning from mechanical ventilation and 42 patients (10%) died or lost.
Reference: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20122822 Tracheostomy in patients with long-term mechanical ventilation: a survey.
Further to this reference above, what leads to prolonged mechanical ventilation, tracheostomy and then the ability to wean a critically ill Patient off the ventilator eventually are the inability to wean somebody off the ventilator.
This often begins with prolonged induced coma, intubation (insertion of the breathing tube), breathing tube/endotracheal tube and the failure to extubate (removal and the breathing tube).
Generally speaking intubation for respiratory failure leads to induced coma, mechanical ventilation and this also goes hand in hand with a nasogastric tube (NG tube) for feeding.
Again, if weaning off the ventilator and the breathing tube (extubation) can’t be achieved, the next step is to perform a tracheostomy!
When is the right time to perform a tracheostomy?
Here are some articles and videos for you to answer that question
How Long Can A Breathing Tube Or An Endotracheal Tube Can Stay In?
HOW LONG SHOULD A PATIENT BE ON A VENTILATOR BEFORE HAVING A TRACHEOSTOMY?
WHAT ARE THE RISKS AND BENEFITS OF A TRACHEOSTOMY?
Why Would A Critically Ill Patient In An Induced Coma Need A Tracheostomy In Intensive Care?
When a tracheostomy is done, a PEG tube or feeding tube also known as gastrostomy is done as well.
A PEG is a permanent feeding tube through the abdominal wall into the stomach.
Nevertheless it is often doctors and family preference whether a PEG tube is inserted or a nasogastric feeding tube is left in place to continue feeding.
Anybody on a ventilator with either a breathing tube or tracheostomy is unable to eat orally, hence the nasogastric feeding tube or the PEG feeding tube.
In either case with a tracheostomy, mechanical ventilation and feeding tube a patient can definitely be discharged home with a service like intensive care at home.
Mechanical ventilation, tracheostomy and feeding tube is definitely not an obstacle for intensive home care...
Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/can-you-be-discharged-from-hospital-with-ventilator-tracheostomy-and-feeding-tube/
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Can You Live on a Ventilator and Tracheostomy with a Good Quality Of Life?
https://intensivecareathome.com/can-you-live-on-a-ventilator-and-tracheostomy-with-a-good-quality-of-life/
Can You Live on a Ventilator and Tracheostomy with a Good Quality Of Life?
Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here
http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/
Call directly 24/7
+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada
+44 118 324 3018 UK
+6141 094 2230 Australia
Email support@intensivecarehotline.com
Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy
1:1 phone counselling
http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/
Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care
https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/
Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/
https://intensivecareathome.com
And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline
Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline
#icu
#intensivecare
#criticalcare
In the last blog I talked about
WHAT IS LONG TERM HOME VENTILATION?
You can check out last week here.
In this week’s blog I want to answer another question that we get quite frequently
Can you live on a ventilator and tracheostomy with a good quality of life?
More and more Patients (adults and children) survive complicated critical illnesses and hence lengthy stays in intensive care on mechanical ventilation with tracheostomy.
Some of those adults and children can be successfully weaned off ventilation and tracheostomy and others can’t.
For some adults and children, mechanical ventilation and tracheostomies are simply a bridge to get them better, weaned off both devices and then they move on to their path of recovery without life support.
For others, mechanical ventilation and tracheostomy are an issue they need to deal with long term and beyond intensive care or ICU.
If that’s the case the question inevitably arises if one can live on a ventilator and tracheostomy with a good quality of life?
The answer to it is quite simple and we know from our clients that it’s a clear yes.
Picture yourself or your loved one in intensive care (ICU) or in LTAC (long-term acute care for our US readers and clients) with a ventilator and tracheostomy and you or your loved one are unable to be weaned off ventilation or it may take much longer than anticipated.
You or your loved one won’t have quality of life in an institution such as a hospital intensive care unit or LTAC but you can have a good quality of life at home with 24/7 professional and highly skilled intensive care nurses coming to your home. These ICU/PICU nurses are familiar with ventilation and tracheostomy as well as them...
Continuation...
https://intensivecareathome.com/can-you-live-on-a-ventilator-and-tracheostomy-with-a-good-quality-of-life/
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Education Days for our INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME Nurses to Continue Delivering a High Quality Service!
https://intensivecareathome.com/education-days-at-intensive-care-at-home-for-our-nursing-staff-to-keep-delivering-a-high-quality-service/
Education Days for our INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME Nurses to Continue Delivering a High Quality Service!
Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here
http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/
Call directly 24/7
+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada
+44 118 324 3018 UK
+6141 094 2230 Australia
Email support@intensivecarehotline.com
Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy
1:1 phone counselling
http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/
Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care
https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/
Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/
https://intensivecareathome.com
And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline
Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline
#icu
#intensivecare
#criticalcare
In this week’s blog I want to talk about how we maintain quality, keep our staff up to date with training and education and therefore how we safely manage to keep our clients out of Intensive Care or get them out of Intensive Care in the first place.
Education days at INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME for our nursing staff to keep delivering a high quality service!
Part of working with a specialised INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME nursing service is to maintaining quality and safety aspects, so that our clients can go home from ICU/PICU or stay out of ICU/PICU if they are at home already, so they can be safely looked after at home!
Besides being the first and as of June 2019 the only 3rd party accredited service in Australia that has accreditation and certification to provide Intensive Home Care nursing for ventilated Patients at home, we take safety for our clients and their families very seriously!
Besides having a minimum of two years ICU/PICU experience, all of our staff go through annual training such as an ALS (Advanced life support) or BLS (Basic life support) courses!
These are our minimum qualifications that staff need to have, however the reality is that we currently employ over 200 years ICU/PICU experience, therefore making us and our specialist skills the leading service in Australia when it comes to long-term ventilation with tracheostomy at home.
Some of the training we are providing is in-house or we engage external providers to facilitate such training and maintain and improve the skills of our critical care registered nurses.
Such training days are also a good opportunity for our staff to get to know each other. The reality of running a remote intensive care at home service is also that staff only see each other at handover time. Sometimes staff haven’t met each other at all because they work with different clients!
Therefore the training days are fantastic opportunities to get to know other team members!
Last month we had such training days for our nurses and we engaged Karena Hull a very experienced Intensive Care nurse to run the accredited course.
Karena is running her own training organisation “resus ready” and we had the pleasure of Karena providing advanced resuscitation training with our very talented and skilled critical care nurses from Intensive CARE AT HOME.
We also invited some of our clients to one of the training days so they could feel more comfortable and reassured when they are at home with their loved ones and our nurses to respond appropriately in case their family member has a medical emergency...
Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/education-days-at-intensive-care-at-home-for-our-nursing-staff-to-keep-delivering-a-high-quality-service/
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Can You Advocate for My Child to Get 24/7 ICU at Home Because She’s on Ventilator with Tracheostomy?
https://intensivecareathome.com/can-you-advocate-for-my-daughter-to-get-24-7-icu-at-home-because-shes-on-ventilation-with-tracheostomy/
Can You Advocate for My Child to Get 24/7 ICU at Home Because She’s on Ventilator with Tracheostomy?
Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here
http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/
Call directly 24/7
+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada
+44 118 324 3018 UK
+6141 094 2230 Australia
Email support@intensivecarehotline.com
Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy
1:1 phone counselling
http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/
Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care
https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/
Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/
https://intensivecareathome.com
And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline
Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline
#icu
#intensivecare
#criticalcare
Hi it’s Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME where we provide tailor made solutions for long-term ventilated Adults& Children with Tracheostomies by improving their Quality of life and where we also provide tailor made solutions to hospitals and Intensive Care Units to save money and resources, whilst providing Quality Care!
In the last blog I talked about
The surprising truth about Australian hospitals — we don’t need so many
You can check out last week’s blog here.
In today’s blog I want to answer a question from one of our readers.
Can you advocate for my daughter to get 24/7 ICU at home because she’s on ventilation with tracheostomy
So in this short video, I want to answer a question from one of our readers Denise.
So Denise writes, I’m currently receiving services from a company, and I’m not going to mention the company in Sydney, Australia. They provide registered nurses in the home for my daughter Stacy for 16 hours daily. My daughter Stacy is ventilated with a tracheostomy and she’ needs 24 hours a day intensive care nursing because that’s what she needs and would get if she was in ICU.
I’m looking because I would like to receive coverage for 24 hours daily. I’m at work during the day and then I have to get up at night to provide care for my daughter Stacy. I have to suction her, I have to change her brief and have to turn her so she’s not getting pressure sources, etc.
According to the company that I’m using, there is a shortage of nurses who want to work in home care because the hospitals and nursing homes pay more. At least that was, that is what the company’s saying. They’re having a hard time recruiting nurses. There are several of my shifts that are open even though she has to been approved for 16 hours daily. I have seen on your website that you provide care up to 24 hours a day with intensive care nurses.
And I have also seen that you’ve advocated for other clients to get funding. I would be really interested to find out more about how you do that and what are the chances that you could do the same for us. My daughter at the moment is funded through the NDIS, which is a government funded program.
There is no way that I can personally afford to pay privately for these services. As you might imagine, our lives have been pretty tough. There have been times that I couldn’t work because I had to care for my daughter. If I was independently wealthy, this wouldn’t be a problem. Too bad. There is not a wealthy benefactor somewhere who is empathetic to our plight and could help.
My daughter’s care has become much more involved and complex since January. This last hospitalisation she suffered a stroke under the eyes of the hospital staff, but fortunately, God is great and she’s recovering due to his grace. The experience is emotionally very draining. She is my only daughter and I have dedicated my life to caring for her.
Most people are born with trisomy 18 pass away at a very young age, but this one she’s a miracle girl and we are blessed for each day that we have her. Thank you for taking the time to respond...
Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/can-you-advocate-for-my-daughter-to-get-24-7-icu-at-home-because-shes-on-ventilation-with-tracheostomy/
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INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME’s Hiring ICU/PICU nurses in Melbourne,Frankston,Mornington Peninsula&Warragul
https://intensivecareathome.com/intensive-care-at-home-is-hiring-icu-picu-nurses-in-melbourne-frankston-mornington-peninsula-warragul/
INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME is hiring ICU/PICU nurses in Melbourne, Frankston, Mornington Peninsula(Bittern, Balnarring, Mornington) and Warragul/ Leongatha area. Minimum requirement is two years ICU/PICU experience, ideally with a critical care certificate.
Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here
http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/
Call directly 24/7
+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada
+44 118 324 3018 UK
+6141 094 2230 Australia
Email support@intensivecarehotline.com
Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy
1:1 phone counselling
http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/
Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care
https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/
Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/
https://intensivecareathome.com
And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline
Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline
#icu
#intensivecare
#criticalcare
Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from intensive care at home where we provide tailor made solutions for long-term ventilated adults and children with tracheostomies and where we also provide tailor made solutions for hospitals and intensive care units to save money and provide quality care.
So this is a video for intensive care nurses and pediatric intensive care nurses because we at intensive care at home are hiring you. If you’re an ICU or a pediatric ICU nurse and you have a minimum of two years ICU experience, we want to hear from you.
We currently have vacancies for our clients in the Melbourne metropolitan area on the Morning Peninsula as well as in the Warragul area. Specifically, we have vacancies in Mornington (Bittern, Balnarring) but also in Patterson Lakes as well as in the Warragul and Leongatha area. So we want to really hear from you.
So what do we exactly do you may wonder if you haven’t heard of intensive care at home before. So we’re really proud to know that we are the first accredited intensive care at home nursing service in Australia.
We have a proven, innovative, safe, and robust third party accredited framework to deliver intensive care at home nursing care, which enables us to look after the highest acuity and the sickest patients in the community in Australia.
This is a proven model that is quickly and fast revolutionizing health care and intensive care at a rapid speed, and we are creating value for patients, families, ICU’s and pediatric ICU’s, hospitals and funding bodies alike.
The intellectual property we have built for intensive care at home nursing services enables us to attract the best, most motivated, enthusiastic, and most amazing ICU and pediatric ICU nurses.
Intensive care at home is therefore in a position to employ a team with hundreds of years ICU and pediatric ICU experience which is giving us the ability to look after more and more long-term ICU and pediatric ICU patients at home, which has formally been unheard of in Australia until 2014.
So this is really in a nutshell of what we do. Our clients are mainly long-term ventilated with tracheostomy, but we also have otherwise medically complex clients that need an ICU nurse or a pediatric ICU nurse 24 hours a day to keep them at home safely so that they don’t go back into ICU and their families obviously benefit from that as well.
So again, if you’re an ICU or a pediatric ICU nurse, we want to hear from you because we are hiring ICU and pediatric ICU nurses in the Melbourne metropolitan area, specifically on the Mornington Peninsula as well as in the Warragul and Leongatha area.
So I leave my details below this video and I would really like to hear from you. Take care for now.
This is Patrik Hutzel from intensive care at home and I’ll talk to you in a few days...
Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/intensive-care-at-home-is-hiring-icu-picu-nurses-in-melbourne-frankston-mornington-peninsula-warragul/
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My Dad had a Stroke, Pneumonia & is in ICU, Ventilated with Tracheostomy, Can He Go Home?
My Dad had a Stroke, Pneumonia & is in ICU, Ventilated with Tracheostomy, Can He Go Home?
Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here
http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/
Call directly 24/7
+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada
+44 118 324 3018 UK
+6141 094 2230 Australia
Email support@intensivecarehotline.com
Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy
1:1 phone counselling
http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/
Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care
https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/
Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/
https://intensivecareathome.com
And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline
Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline
#icu
#intensivecare
#criticalcare
6
views
CAN MY SON GO HOME FROM ICU On BIPAP VENTILATION&TRACHEOSTOMY? HE HAS ALS& HE’S A CO2 RETAINER
https://intensivecareathome.com/can-my-son-go-home-from-icu-with-bipap-ventilation-and-tracheostomy-he-has-als-and-hes-a-co2-retainer-help/
CAN MY SON GO HOME FROM ICU WITH BIPAP VENTILATION AND TRACHEOSTOMY? HE HAS ALS AND HE’S A CO2 RETAINER, HELP!
Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here
http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/
Call directly 24/7
+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada
+44 118 324 3018 UK
+6141 094 2230 Australia
Email support@intensivecarehotline.com
Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy
1:1 phone counselling
http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/
Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care
https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/
Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/
https://intensivecareathome.com
And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline
Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline
#icu
#intensivecare
#criticalcare
In today’s video blog, I want to answer another question from one of our readers, Ellen and Ellen sends an email and Ellen is in Melbourne, Australia.
Ellen asks
Can my son go home from ICU with BIPAP ventilation and tracheostomy? He has ALS and he’s a CO2 retainer, help!
Hi Patrik,
My son has a tracheostomy and is in ICU. He does well without ventilation support for 12 hours with carbon dioxide or CO2 in the range of 37 to 47.
My question is, can he be managed with BiPAP at home over night? My son is 36 and he has a history of retaining carbon dioxide, which has improved over time. My son was diagnosed with ALS about eight months ago. He walks with assistance with a cane and he has been in the hospital now for two months.
He went with low sodium, elevated CO2 up to 57 and elevated blood pressure. He was unmonitored for awhile and passed out, and he had to be intubated on three different occasions before he went into ICU long-term. Hence with the ventilation, he also got hospital acquired pneumonia with klebsiella and pseudomonas.
He got over it in the end. He had a tracheostomy about two months ago, and he’s doing well without a ventilator now for over 12 hours. The ICU feels he may need to stay in ICU for quite some time until he’s completely weaned off the machine. I, on the other hand, believe that home ventilation and intensive care at home is appropriate with BiPAP instead.
Please advise what your options are.
Ellen
Hi Ellen,
Thank you, Ellen, for sending this email and clarifying your son’s situation. It’s what the ICU is telling you is very old fashioned and it’s sort of, they’re stuck in what they’ve been doing for decades and it’s clearly not working. Of course, your son can go home and should go home with intensive care at home nursing rather than staying in ICU for the next few months until he supposedly comes off the ventilator.
Now with ALS, I think there’s a high chance your son may need ventilation for quite some time to come as it’s usually a progressive disease.
Can BiPAP be done at home overnight? Absolutely, yes. We could also monitor his CO2 either with a monitor or even with blood gases that we could take from the ear.
So there’s a number of ways to manage your son at home safely, either with just overnight nursing care, but I believe your son will need 24 hour nursing care because if he’s stuck in ICU 24 hours a day, he will need ICU and intensive care at home 24 hours a day and we can provide that for you.
So, the BiPAP will most likely get his CO2 down because that’s what BiPAP usually does. And now that it’s 37 to 47. It’s not too bad, but you know, usually below 38 is better consistently.
So here is where our model of care fits in really in this with the ICU as well. You know, your son can’t go to a hospital ward because the hospital wards can’t look after ventilation and tracheostomy.
Can my son go home from ICU with BIPAP ventilation and tracheostomy? He has ALS and he’s a CO2 retainer, help!
So the only really option for your son to be weaned off the ventilator safely instead of an ICU is at home. We’re sending ICU nurses into the home 24 hours a day. So we’re basically providing an intensive care substitution service that has a lot of advantages for the hospital and the ICU as well...
Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/can-my-son-go-home-from-icu-with-bipap-ventilation-and-tracheostomy-he-has-als-and-hes-a-co2-retainer-help/
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Husband’s Been in ICU for 6 weeks, Ventilated & Trachea! I Want Him Home with Intensive Care at Home
https://intensivecareathome.com/my-husband-has-been-in-icu-for-six-weeks-ventilated-with-tracheostomy-hes-depressed-i-want-him-home-can-he-go-home-with-intensive-care-at-home/
My husband has been in ICU for six weeks, ventilated with tracheostomy! He’s depressed. I want him home, can he go home with intensive care at home?
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And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
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So in today’s question, Myrna is asking
My husband has been in ICU for six weeks, ventilated with tracheostomy! He’s depressed. I want him home, can he go home with intensive care at home?
Hi Patrik,
my husband has a tracheostomy and he’s been in ICU since the 6th of January, which is now coming close to six weeks. He’s weaning off the ventilator and the tracheostomy very, very slowly. He has poor muscle tone and very poor and minimalized movement due to all the medicines he was given while he was in an induced coma.
I would really like to bring him home with intensive care at home. He’s getting depressed, he’s not able to talk at the moment because of the tracheostomy and the ventilation. I need advice how to get him home. Is it the best option and so forth?
From Myrna.
Hi Myrna,
thank you so much for writing in and contacting us. So this is the prime example Myrna for how intensive care at home can improve the whole situation for your husband, for you, but also for the hospital and for the intensive care units and provide a win-win situation.
So he’s been in ICU for six weeks. He’s weaning off the ventilator very slowly by the sounds of things, which is not unusual at all because you know, he was in an induced coma and with all the sedation and the pain medication he’s had whilst he was in the induced coma, it takes time to wake up. It doesn’t take a lot of time to lose all the muscles which is what’s happened in your husband’s situation.
You know, he hasn’t probably been mobilized properly, hasn’t been getting out of bed yet. And of course he’s losing muscle tone and that doesn’t help him to wean off the ventilator at all. And of course he’s getting depressed in ICU, no natural daylight, disturbed day and night rhythm. It’s a foreign environment, doctors, nurses making noise all the time, can’t sleep, can’t rest, you know, it’s not the right environment.
My husband has been in ICU for six weeks, ventilated with tracheostomy! He’s depressed. I want him home, can he go home with intensive care at home?
And on top of that, it’s very expensive. An ICU bed, as you’re aware, costs five to $6,000 per bed day and your husband quite frankly, doesn’t need to be there. The only thing that you haven’t mentioned is whether he’s on inotropes or vasopressors. But as soon as he’s off inotropes and vasopressors, he can go home with the service like ours where we send ICU nurses into the home 24 hours a day to provide a genuine alternative to a long-term stay in ICU or what’s called an ICU substitution service.
We can set up home care for you, you know, getting all the equipment ready. We’re very experienced in that. We’ve done it, you know, dozens of times for our clients getting home care ready, getting a roster in place, 24 hours, same place with the right nurses. You know, we’ll get you involved in the staff selection process. We’ll only send you the nurses that you make a good connection with.
What’s really important at home as well. You know, he would go back to a normal day and night rhythm. He’s in his own environment and quite frankly, we’d be much less depressed because you know, his quality of life and your quality of life will improve big time, when you’re at home, it’s just your natural environment...
Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/my-husband-has-been-in-icu-for-six-weeks-ventilated-with-tracheostomy-hes-depressed-i-want-him-home-can-he-go-home-with-intensive-care-at-home/
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My 15 Year Old Daughter has been in PICU Since 10/2019 on Ventilator &Tracheostomy. I Want Her Home!
https://intensivecareathome.com/my-15-year-old-daughter-has-been-in-picu-since-october-last-year-she-cant-come-off-the-ventilator-tracheostomy-i-want-her-home-please-help/
My 15 year old daughter has been in PICU since October last year. She can’t come off the ventilator & tracheostomy. I want her home, please help!
Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here
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+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada
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And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
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Today I want to answer and other questions from one of our readers, Katie.
My 15 year old daughter has been in PICU since October last year. She can’t come off the ventilator & tracheostomy. I want her home, please help!
So Katie sent an email and she writes in,
Hi Patrik,
my 15 year old daughter, Jessie has been in the pediatric intensive care unit since October, 2019 due to a seizure emergency colon surgery, pneumonia, blood clots and eventual tracheostomy.
We are trying to get her home but she will need to be on a ventilator 24 hours a day, seven days a week. She also has tracheostomy and bronchial malacia.
I would like to know what areas in Australia do you provide services in? We are in Sydney.
Also, what types of insurance do you accept or who is paying for the service,
because we can’t afford to pay for it privately.
The hospital doesn’t seem to be of much help for us with who’s going to pay for the service. When we’re at home Jessie suffers from a rare disease called mucopolysaccharidosis. This is a disease that is characterised by the body’s inability to make a specific enzyme. It is a progressive disease that currently has no cure. The doctors just feel that the Tracheomalacia in her airway is the direct consequence of her having the mucopolysaccharidos.
Jessie was also intubated in October and didn’t receive her tracheostomy until November. Please help us. We can’t stay in the pediatric ICU forever. Many thanks from Katie.
Hi Katie,
thank you Katie for writing in and for sharing your daughter’s situation.
So number one, we are providing services in Sydney, there is no issue around location. We are providing services outside of the big metropolitan areas, Sydney and Melbourne in country Victoria for example, or country in new South Wales.
And we can also provide services or we are providing in Sydney. So metropolitan areas obviously are much easier for us than the rural or country areas.
So there’s no issue there.
In terms of your daughter being in the pediatric ICU since October last year, there is no issue from our end taking her home as long as she’s not on inotropes or vasopressors. You haven’t mentioned any of that.
And I think it’s very unlikely that she is still on inotropes or vasopressors. So going home with a tracheostomy and ventilation even though she needs to be ventilated 24 hours a day, that’s bread and butter for us.
Why is it bread and butter for us? Well, we are all intensive care nurses with a minimum of two years ICU experience. As a matter of fac, our average ICU nurse has more than eight to 10 years ICU experience and they, you know, over 70% of our staff, have completed an ICU or a pediatric ICU critical care certificate.
So we employ highly skilled and highly experienced people, with decades of intensive care as well as pediatric intensive care experience...
Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/my-15-year-old-daughter-has-been-in-picu-since-october-last-year-she-cant-come-off-the-ventilator-tracheostomy-i-want-her-home-please-help/
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How Can You as a Family Obtain Funding for Intensive Care at Home?
https://intensivecareathome.com/how-can-you-as-a-family-obtain-funding-for-intensive-care-at-home
How Can You as a Family Obtain Funding for Intensive Care at Home?
Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here
http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/
Call directly 24/7
+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada
+44 118 324 3018 UK
+6141 094 2230 Australia
Email support@intensivecarehotline.com
Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy
1:1 phone counselling
http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/
Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care
https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/
Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/
https://intensivecareathome.com
And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline
Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline
#icu
#intensivecare
#criticalcare
So in today’s video, I want to talk about
How can you as a family obtain funding for intensive care at home?
How can you as a family obtain funding for intensive care at home?
Because we are getting this question from families all the time, families mainly have a loved one in intensive care, or families who have a loved one at home and have a loved one on life support. Meaning ventilation, tracheostomy, or bipap ventilation or sometimes, clients may not even be on a ventilator, but they may be having medical complexities such as complex seizure management, and especially with complex seizure management, patients might have an unstable airway and an unstable airway needs the skills of an intensive care nurse. Hence, intensive care at home is the right service for that.
At the time of the recording of this video,we’re in early 2020 now and as of 2020, there are several ways of obtaining funding for intensive care at home 24 hour nursing care with intensive care nurses or pediatric intensive care nurses. So as some of you may know, the NDIS or the National Disability Insurance Scheme has kicked in for a few years now in Australia.
And the National Disability Insurance Scheme has started to fund nursing care. Right. And with that, the NDIS is funding nursing care, you need to obtain medical and nursing evidence that your loved one qualifies for that.
But I can assure you that if your loved one is on ventilation and tracheostomy, most likely they will qualify for 24 hour nursing care as most of our clients have obtained that funding already.
Now, this is often not an overnight sort of event. But we have advocated or helped to advocate for so many clients now, and we’ve done a lot of legwork for our clients successfully.
Otherwise, we wouldn’t be in business and we wouldn’t be helping clients to stay at home instead of intensive care on a day by day basis. So therefore the NDIS is is one funding avenue.
But sometimes we get funding through public hospitals as well. And in other instances, we get funding through private health insurances, or in some instances, we get funding through a hospital in the home model or through a palliative care in the home model.
So the bottom line is this.
Whether you have a loved one in intensive care, or whether you have a loved one at home on a ventilator, but you don’t have the support your loved one needs (yet), if they are on life support and ventilation because ventilation and tracheostomy skills take years of training, specialized training in intensive care.
So you can’t just take lay people off the street and look after somebody on a ventilator with a tracheostomy that’s simply dangerous. You know, if your loved one goes back to intensive care, they wouldn’t be having somebody off the street looking after your loved one, they would have fully qualified Intensive Care Nurses looking after your loved one and we offer at the end of the day, we’re offering an intensive care substitution service that’s highly valuable. Because where would you rather be at home or in intensive care? I think the answer is rather obvious, especially if you get the same care and treatment at home...
Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/how-can-you-as-a-family-obtain-funding-for-intensive-care-at-home
23
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HOW TO KEEP MORE PATIENTS AT HOME AND OUT OF ICU/PICU TAKING THE PRESSURE OFF HOSPITALS!
https://intensivecareathome.com/how-to-keep-more-patients-at-home-and-out-of-icu-picu-taking-the-pressure-off-hospitals/
HOW TO KEEP MORE PATIENTS AT HOME AND OUT OF ICU/PICU TAKING THE PRESSURE OFF HOSPITALS!
Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here
http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/
Call directly 24/7
+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada
+44 118 324 3018 UK
+6141 094 2230 Australia
Email support@intensivecarehotline.com
Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy
1:1 phone counselling
http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/
Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care
https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/
Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/
https://intensivecareathome.com
And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline
Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline
#icu
#intensivecare
#criticalcare
How to keep more patients at home and out of ICU/PICU taking the pressure off hospitals!
So in today’s video, I want to briefly talk about the coronavirus crisis and how it impacts on intensive care units and on intensive care at home.
And also how we can help intensive care units and also how we can help your family to stay clear of hospitals and intensive care units especially during this time of crisis.
We’re already helping families to keep their loved ones out of intensive care, despite high acuity needs such as mechanical ventilation, tracheostomy, but also non invasive ventilation such as BIPAP or CPAP or other medical complexities that our clients deal with on a day by day basis.
So as this healthcare crisis has been unfolding in recent weeks and months and probably will continue to unfold over the next few weeks with the coronavirus, intensive care units all across the country and all over the world will be filling up with many critically ill patients putting even more pressure on an already stretched intensive care system.
You know, after having worked in intensive care for 20 years,ICU doesn’t need a pandemic like the COVID-19 to be full, to be busy and to be stretched to the maximum.
Anybody who’s worked in intensive care for any length of time can appreciate what’s probably going to come over the next few weeks and what’s already happening in some countries.
From that perspective you know, our job here at intensive care at home obviously is to keep our clients at home safely, so they can stay away from already overstretched ICU’s and hospital system.
So that’s our number one job, making sure that all of our clients are safe at home and don’t have any readmissions and that obviously our staff are safe.
And on that note, I really want to say a big, big thank you to our staff that keep our clients Safe at Home 24 hours a day, seven days a week, making sure they don’t have to go back to intensive care or to a hospital. That is our main goal. And again, I can’t thank our staff enough to make that happen on a day by day basis 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
But coming back to intensive care and how this impacts and how our service helps intensive care units to free up bed capacity to look after probably more acutely unwell patients that are probably about to get into the system very soon.
So especially long term ventilated patients in intensive care cause bed blocks, they are often there for much longer than necessary, especially if they have ventilation and tracheostomy needs.
With our service intensive care at home, we can take them home and keep them home predictably with a 24 hour roster, we can free up ICU capacity that most likely will be needed over the next few weeks for mainly COVID-19 patients flogging into the system.
By helping ICU’s free up bed capacity we’re creating a win win situation.
Now also, when somebody is long term ventilated with a tracheotomy in intensive care, because of the prolonged and often burdensome stay in intensive care, it makes them much more prone to get an infection, in an environment where there’s so many infections going around already, and now with the COVID-19 situation, it’s going to be heightened.
So, from that perspective, it’s time for you if you have a loved one in intensive care with long term ventilation and tracheostomy needs to get out of there before ICU is get overcrowded and also priorities might be changing as this crisis might be unfolding...
Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/how-to-keep-more-patients-at-home-and-out-of-icu-picu-taking-the-pressure-off-hospitals/
14
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My Mom’s Been in ICU for Two Months& is Failing Ventilation & Tracheostomy Weaning, Can She Go Home?
https://intensivecareathome.com/my-mum-has-been-in-icu-for-two-months-and-is-failing-ventilation-and-tracheostomy-weaning-can-she-go-home/
My Mom’s Been in ICU for Two Months & is Failing Ventilation & Tracheostomy Weaning, Can She Go Home?
Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here
http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/
Call directly 24/7
+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada
+44 118 324 3018 UK
+6141 094 2230 Australia
Email support@intensivecarehotline.com
Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy
1:1 phone counselling
http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/
Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care
https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/
Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/
https://intensivecareathome.com
And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline
Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline
#icu
#intensivecare
#criticalcare
In last week’s video blog, I talked about how to keep more patients at home and out of ICU taking the pressure off hospitals.
HOW TO KEEP MORE PATIENTS AT HOME AND OUT OF ICU/PICU TAKING THE PRESSURE OFF HOSPITALS
You can check out last week’s question by clicking on the link here.
In today’s video blog, I want to talk about a question from one of our inquiries, Brandy, and Brandy writes in
MY MUM HAS BEEN IN ICU FOR TWO MONTHS AND IS FAILING VENTILATION AND TRACHEOSTOMY WEANING, CAN SHE GO HOME?
Hi Patrik,
my mom suffers from several health issues. She is currently in ICU on the ventilator with a tracheostomy. She was intubated on the 19th of February and got the tracheostomy on the second of March due to respiratory failure and sepsis. On the fifth of March, they started the ventilator weaning. However the care there wasn’t the best and no one was on the same page, so any attempt at ventilation weaning was unsuccessful.
She also needed 10 units of blood during in the first few weeks due to low hemoglobin. Since the 27th of March, things have become unstable again, they have been running tests to see if she had a GI bleed, which came back negative thankfully. Her hemoglobin and hematocrit have been holding steady for the last several days. She is however still anemic and is on dialysis as well. But the doctors couldn’t determine why she had so much blood loss.
She started doing the tracheostomy collar and weaning in ICU for the last few days and has finally done well now. Up to six hours so far per day and they’re continuing today. My mom really wants to come home and I would like her to come home to my house and stay with me. However, I’m not sure how that works with being in the middle of the tracheostomy collar trials.
Can I request my mom continue to stay in ICU until she can be successfully weaned from the ventilator and then take her home with me? And I’ve seen that with intensive care at home that you can do tracheostomy and ventilation at home. Could you also do home dialysis? And what if my mom could be off the ventilator during the day but needed at night? Can you do that as well?
I’m just trying to respect my mom’s wishes to come home as she is tired of being in ICU. She’s 66 years of age and what should I do? As of today, she is now on BIPAP with the tracheostomy and her CO2 levels are still fairly high. She had to go back on the ventilator for 24 hours a day to get her CO2 levels under control.
When I look at your website, everything looks like exactly what we need. My only question is, what insurance does intensive care at home accept? How can it be funded? Any help with this would be very much appreciated. We are in Melbourne and would very much appreciate your help.
Also, my mother currently suffers from COPD, high blood pressure, diabetes, she had five bypass heart surgeries four years ago, and she is wheelchair bound as she has lost a lot of muscle mass in her legs in the last few months...
Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/my-mum-has-been-in-icu-for-two-months-and-is-failing-ventilation-and-tracheostomy-weaning-can-she-go-home/
21
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HOW TO INCREASE ICU BED CAPACITY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC CRISIS?
https://intensivecareathome.com/how-to-increase-icu-bed-capacity-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-crisis/
HOW TO INCREASE ICU BED CAPACITY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC CRISIS?
Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here
http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/
Call directly 24/7
+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada
+44 118 324 3018 UK
+6141 094 2230 Australia
Email support@intensivecarehotline.com
Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy
1:1 phone counselling
http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/
Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care
https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/
Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/
https://intensivecareathome.com
And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline
Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline
#icu
#intensivecare
#criticalcare
In this week’s blog, I want to offer solutions to intensive care units and hospitals
How to increase ICU bed capacity during the Covid-19 pandemic crisis?
So today’s blog topic is how to get more ICU beds with less infection risk.
It has been very interesting to see in recent weeks and recent months that governments and health care services and health care systems all around the world are desperately trying to ramp up their ICU capacities. For example, in Australia, there are currently about 2200 intensive care beds and almost all of them all of the time they’re running at full capacity. There is no COVID-19 pandemic crisis needed to keep ICUs at and above capacity at all times.
With current predictions and modeling for when the peak of the COVID-19 patients needing ICU treatment hits next month in May or in June, there won’t be enough ICU beds in the country. Some hospitals are already preparing for the worst by trying to have extra ICU beds available in recovery theater, Emergency Department or Ward areas.
Some credible sources paint a worst case scenario picture with ICUs needing up to 330% more ICU beds in the next few weeks or months. And I’ll put a link below this video to an article on the ABC website that’s highlighting the increase in ICU beds up to 330%. It has also been talked about creating some “makeshift ICU” is like the military does in war zones, with the difference that those makeshift ICU could be, for example, here in Melbourne at the exhibition center, or what we’ve seen in recent weeks in Central Park, in New York, or in other big cities around the world, like in London as well.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-27/coronavirus-australia-covid-19-icu-beds-ventilators-hospitals/1209042
Nobody has ever asked that if we need to dramatically increase ICU bed capacity quickly where resources are coming from?
It might be possible to get more physical beds get more ventilators etc. But who’s going to operate those ventilators and who’s going to look after those patients?
With ICU nurses and ICU doctors already in high demand, can you just increase bed capacity by hundreds or thousands of ICU beds out of thin air without having the appropriately trained staff that can safely look after those critically ill patients needing ventilation, induced coma, prone positioning, inotropes and vasopressors and the list goes on.
To look after critically ill patients safely, doctors and nurses have to go through many years of specialized training either theoretical and practical, both is needed.
In my point of view, after having worked in intensive care for 20 years, it’s scary to hear that all of a sudden doctors and nurses without ICU experience are being fast tracked to look after some of the sickest patients that ICUs have ever seen. This is a scary scenario, as the margin for error in ICU is very little when you’re dealing with lives in the hands of ICU doctors and ICU nurses.
Another solution to deal with this, of needing to drastically and dramatically increase ICU bed capacity is simply of course, to use more of our intensive care at home services.
We are already operational, proven and up and running. No need to set up makeshift ICUs in a park or in an exhibition center or anywhere else where it could potentially be unsafe. We can help ICUs very quickly to increase bed capacity for COVID-19 patients by simply taking long term intensive care patients home and increase ICU bed capacity very quickly...
Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/how-to-increase-icu-bed-capacity-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-crisis/
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My Husband is in ICU for Four Months. Can He Go Home with Intensive Care At Home?
https://intensivecareathome.com/my-husband-is-in-icu-for-four-months-can-he-go-home-with-intensive-care-at-home/
My Husband is in ICU for Four Months. Can He Go Home with Intensive Care At Home?
Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here
http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/
Call directly 24/7
+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada
+44 118 324 3018 UK
+6141 094 2230 Australia
Email support@intensivecarehotline.com
Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy
1:1 phone counselling
http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/
Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care
https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/
Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/
https://intensivecareathome.com
And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline
Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline
#icu
#intensivecare
#criticalcare
In today’s video, I want to answer a question from one of our readers and interested clients, Carrie and Carrie has a 72-year old husband in ICU now for four months and Carrie is wanting to know if he can go home with intensive care at home.
My Husband is in ICU for Four Months. Can He Go Home with Intensive Care at Home?
So I read out Carrie’s emails so you can understand what situation her and her husband are in. Because many families in intensive care are in a similar situation and they don’t know what they don’t know and they don’t know what to do, which is why they’re reaching out to us. And we can help them to take their loved one home and bring intensive care in their home. So that’s the whole idea.
So let me read out Carrie’s email now.
My husband is 76 and he had a right tibial artery blockage with loss of blood flow to his great toe. You had an atherectomy by a vascular surgeon done on December the 15th and nephrotoxic contrast media caused worsening of kidney dysfunction to stage five but gradually improved somewhat. The next hospital day, my husband had a heart attack and intermittent atrial fibrillation for the first time.
Prior to that he had a history of mild congestive heart failure. He got readmitted just a couple of days before Christmas with a right great toe amputation and then he went back home. His kidney function deteriorated and his third admission was just after the New Year for uremia with mental confusion and to start emergency dialysis.
About 10 days later, he developed his first hospital acquired pneumonia and he was very slow to respond to that with antibiotics. He then had an acute and rapid drop in oxygen levels around 4:00 AM on the 10th of January, and he was put on a ventilator for the first time. The infectious disease specialist thought it was probably secondary to a large mucus plug. His tracheostomy and his PEG tube was subsequently put in on the 27th of January.
During his stay in ICU, he also developed a sacral pressure ulcer during hospitalization which progressed markedly and after debridement and removal of large amount of tissue is now at a stage three pressure sore wound, which is treated by the wound care team and he has been on an air mattress. He was then a couple of weeks later developed a second hospital-acquired pneumonia and MRSA. He improved clinically with antibiotics and his white cell count decrease from 28,000 to 18,000 but has never returned to normal.
On the 20th of February, his white cell count was 14,500. His chest x ray has shown bilateral pleural effusions. It was worst on the right but also residual infiltrate on the right lung. Last week, he had chest drains inserted to drain the pleural effusions. Presently he’s having haemodialysis three times a week with additional treatments added or for fluid removal as needed.
The lengthy hospitalizations, multiple complications and lack of adequate nutrition have resulted in extreme weakness. My husband remains primarily bedridden except for being up in a chair for two-hour sessions, one to two times a day. He has continued to have paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, more frequently when he’s extremely tired or stressed. In terms of ventilation weaning, my husband had worked up to 24 hours of two times the ventilator but then had to start over because of the pneumonia and extreme fatigue. He has been on the tracheostomy collar for three 16-hour sessions in one 20-hour session this past week...
Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/my-husband-is-in-icu-for-four-months-can-he-go-home-with-intensive-care-at-home/
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MY HUSBAND HAS BEEN IN ICU ON A VENTILATOR& WE ARE STUCK.CAN WE GO HOME WITH INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME?
https://intensivecareathome.com/my-husband-has-been-in-icu-since-january-2020-with-pneumonia-and-a-stroke-hes-got-a-tracheostomy-and-he-cant-come-off-the-ventilator-we-are-stuck-can-we-go-home-with-intensive-care-at-home/
MY HUSBAND HAS BEEN IN ICU SINCE JANUARY 2020. WITH PNEUMONIA AND A STROKE HE’S GOT A TRACHEOSTOMY AND HE CAN’T COME OFF THE VENTILATOR. WE ARE STUCK. CAN WE GO HOME WITH INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME?
Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here
http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/
Call directly 24/7
+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada
+44 118 324 3018 UK
+6141 094 2230 Australia
Email support@intensivecarehotline.com
Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy
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http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/
Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care
https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/
Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/
https://intensivecareathome.com
And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline
Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline
#icu
#intensivecare
#criticalcare
In last week’s blog, I answered another question from one of our readers where the reader asked
My husband is in ICU for four months, can he go home with intensive care at home?
You can check out last week’s question by clicking on the link here.
In today’s video question, I want to focus on another question from one of our readers.
Mandy says
My husband has been in ICU since January 2020. with pneumonia and a stroke he’s got a tracheostomy and he can’t come off the ventilator. We are stuck. Can we go home with intensive care at home?
So here is what Mandy writes.
Hi Patrik,
My 63 year old husband went into ICU earlier this year with a severe pneumonia.
He then suffered from a stroke a couple of weeks after being admitted into ICU.
Since he suffered from the stroke, he ended up with a tracheostomy, and he’s been in ICU since the sixth of January.
He’s slowly weaning off the ventilator but has poor muscle movement due to all the medicines he was given.
I would like to bring him home with intensive care at home.
He is already getting severely depressed, he’s not being able to talk right now as he can only manage a couple of hours here and there to stay off the ventilator.
Me and my children are spending day and night in ICU in order to be with my husband and he’s not making any progress at all. The ICU team says it’ll be very difficult for him to come off the ventilator. And they say that it might be best if we let nature take its course and let him die.
We don’t agree with that at all, because we know he wants to live.
We can accept if he can’t be weaned off the ventilator and the tracheostomy but we can’t accept him staying in a sterile ICU environment.
What are our options to go home with intensive care at home?
Mandy
Hi Mandy,
Well, thank you Mandy, for writing in and for sharing your situation.
I can totally understand your situation as most of our clients journey started somewhat similar.
I have worked in intensive care for 20 years and I have seen situations like your husband over and over again. And obviously now with what we’re doing with intensive care at home, it does make a lot of sense to get your husband home as quickly as possible.
And not only is it going to be better for your husband to leave ICU as you pointed out to leave the sterile intensive care environment.
You know, it’ll also be better for, you know, his quality of life, of course, he’ll go back into a more natural day and night rhythm because as you would have seen by now in ICU, there’s never any peace and quiet, he probably would have a disturbed day and night rhythm by now.
He probably also has ICU, psychosis and ICU delirium on top of the stroke.
Now, the other thing is, obviously, with your and your children’s situation, you know, you are spending day and night in intensive care.
And I’m sure it impacts on your whole life, you probably can’t work if you were working before, I would imagine it impacts on your children’s life.
And I can only understand that you and your children want to be with your husband 24 hours a day. That’s how important your husband is, of course, and you know, we understand that perfectly well.
So now let’s look at what are your options?
The good news is that you do have options...
Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/my-husband-has-been-in-icu-since-january-2020-with-pneumonia-and-a-stroke-hes-got-a-tracheostomy-and-he-cant-come-off-the-ventilator-we-are-stuck-can-we-go-home-with-intensive-care-at-home/
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INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME is Hiring ICU/PICU Nurses in Metropolitan Melbourne, Warragul & Trafalgar
https://intensivecareathome.com/intensive-care-at-home-is-hiring-icu-picu-nurses-in-metropolitan-melbourne-warragul-trafalgar/
INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME is Hiring ICU/PICU Nurses in Metropolitan Melbourne, Warragul & Trafalgar
INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME is hiring ICU/PICU nurses in Melbourne, Thornbury, Frankston, Mornington Peninsula (Bittern, Balnarring) and Warragul/ Leongatha/Trafalgar area. Minimum requirement is two years ICU/PICU experience, ideally with a critical care certificate.
For more information contact Patrik Hutzel on 041 094 2230 or email patrik@intensivecareathome.com
Check out our career section as well!
https://intensivecareathome.com/careers/
Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here
http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/
Call directly 24/7
+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada
+44 118 324 3018 UK
+6141 094 2230 Australia
Email support@intensivecarehotline.com
Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy
1:1 phone counselling
http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/
Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care
https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/
Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/
https://intensivecareathome.com
And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline
Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline
#icu
#intensivecare
#criticalcaremedicine
So today’s video is for intensive care nurses and pediatric intensive care nurses, because here at intensive care at home, we are hiring you. If you’re an ICU or a pediatric ICU nurse, and you have a minimum of two years, ICU or pediatric ICU experience, and ideally a postgraduate critical care degree, we want to hear from you.
We currently have vacancies for all of our clients in the Melbourne metropolitan area on the Mornington Peninsula, as well as in the Warragul and Trafalgar area, so in the Gippsland area. Specifically, we have vacancies in Mornington (Bittern, Balnarring) but also in Patterson Lakes as well as in the Warragul and Leongatha area, also in the Sunbury area and inner city and also Thornbury.
So you might be wondering, what do we exactly do at intensive care at home if you haven’t heard of us before?
So we’re really proud to announce that we are the first and only accredited intensive care at home nursing service in Australia, as of June, 2020. We have a proven, innovative, safe, and robust third party accredited framework to deliver intensive care at home nursing services, which enables us to look after the highest acuity and the sickest clients in the community in Australia.
It’s a proven model that is quickly and fast revolutionizing health care and intensive care and we are creating value for patients, families, ICUs, pediatric ICUs for hospitals and for funding bodies like we’re basically creating a win-win situation for everyone. We’re improving the quality of life for our clients and their families. We’re saving about 50% of the cost of an ICU bed. We’re freeing up ICU beds are in high demand. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.
So the intellectual property we have built for intensive care at home nursing services enables us to attract the best, most motivated, enthusiastic, and most amazing ICU and pediatric ICU nurses.
We are therefore in a position to employ a team with hundreds of years, ICU and pediatric ICU experience, which is giving us the ability to look after more and more long-term ICU and pediatric ICU patients at home, which has formally been unheard of in Australia until 2014.
So this is what we do in a nutshell, we are basically an intensive care substitution service in the home. We are an extension of intensive care for mainly long-term ventilated patients with tracheostomy, but also we have other medically complex patients that are not necessarily ventilated, but still require an ICU or a pediatric ICU nurse, 24 hours a day to keep them at home safely so they don’t go back into ICU and they can be surrounded by their families, which is obviously very beneficial for our clients.
Also, our team is supported by a clinical liaison nurse that’s obviously visiting clients that is very hands-on with clients, families as well as with our staff. So again, you’re not by yourself in a client’s home, there’s always somebody supporting you...
Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/intensive-care-at-home-is-hiring-icu-picu-nurses-in-metropolitan-melbourne-warragul-trafalgar/
18
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What is Required for an Intensive Care Unit at Home?
https://intensivecareathome.com/what-is-required-for-an-intensive-care-unit-at-home/
What is Required for an Intensive Care Unit at Home?
Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here
http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/
Call directly 24/7
+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada
+44 118 324 3018 UK
+6141 094 2230 Australia
Email support@intensivecarehotline.com
Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy
1:1 phone counselling
http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/
Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care
https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/
Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/
https://intensivecareathome.com
And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline
Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline
#icu
#intensivecare
#criticalcare
In last week’s blog, I answered another question from one of our readers where the reader asked
How to get evidence based care and treatment at home for long-term ventilated patients with tracheostomy and other medically complex patients!
In this week’s blog I want to answer another question we get quite frequently
What is required for an intensive care unit at home?
This is a very straight forward and great question we get quite frequently and I want to answer it succinctly to keep it short and get to the point.
- A client and a family ready and willing to go home instead of unnecessarily spending many weeks, months or even years in ICU/PICU
- A team of experienced ICU/PICU nurses with a minimum of two years ICU/PICU experience and a postgraduate qualification in critical care (our average number of years of ICU/PICU experience is 8-10 years and we employ hundreds of years ICU/PICU experience combined in our business)
- Equipment that enables intensive care at home such as ventilators, spare tracheostomies, ventilation circuits, suction machines, monitors, suction catheters, resuscitation bag, humidifier, nebulising machine, cough assist, machine, face masks, Guedel airways, nasopharyngeal airways, tracheostomy dressings, dilators etc… in essence all the equipment that is needed in ICU just now it being used at home.
- A 3rd party accredited intensive care at home nursing service. Providing an intensive care substitution service at home is a task that can be achieved with the right support structure and with the right policies and procedures. Applying intensive care in a home care setting is only save if it is provided by evidence based and 3rd party accredited care just like in a hospital. You wouldn’t want the baggage handler flying an airplane instead of the pilot or would you? It’s the same with intensive care at home. If you don’t have the quality systems that enable ICU/PICU nurses to do their jobs safely it’s like flying an airplane without a pilot.
As of June 2020 intensive care at home is the only nursing service in Australia that has built and developed a 3rd party accredited quality system for intensive care at home nursing services. Therefore we have built substantial intellectual property that enables us to keep our clients safe even though they need intensive care...
Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/what-is-required-for-an-intensive-care-unit-at-home/
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Mum’s Been in ICU for 3 Months on a Ventilator with Trache. Can She be Weaned Off it at Home?
https://intensivecareathome.com/my-mum-has-been-in-intensive-care-for-three-months-shes-on-a-ventilator-with-a-tracheostomy-after-a-cardiac-arrest-can-she-go-home-and-be-weaned-off-the-ventilator-at-home-instead-of-in-intensive/
MY MUM HAS BEEN IN INTENSIVE CARE FOR THREE MONTHS. SHE’S ON A VENTILATOR WITH A TRACHEOSTOMY AFTER A CARDIAC ARREST. CAN SHE GO HOME AND BE WEANED OFF THE VENTILATOR AT HOME INSTEAD OF IN INTENSIVE CARE?
Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here
http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/
Call directly 24/7
+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada
+44 118 324 3018 UK
+6141 094 2230 Australia
Email support@intensivecarehotline.com
Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy
1:1 phone counselling
http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/
Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care
https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/
Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/
https://intensivecareathome.com
And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline
Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline
#icu
#intensivecare
#criticalcare
In today’s question I want to answer a question from Charlie and Charlie asks
My mum has been in intensive care for three months. She’s on a ventilator with a tracheostomy after a cardiac arrest. Can she go home and be weaned off the ventilator at home instead of in intensive care?
So Charlie writes
Hi Patrik,
my mother is in intensive care and she has been in intensive care for the last three months.
The doctors are saying she’s doing okay, but the progress is very slow. And they’re saying that she might be in intensive care for the next three months or even for longer until she can get weaned off the ventilator.
So we are wondering whether she can go home on a ventilator.
Now, my mother had a cardiac arrest.
She now has atrial fibrillation (AF) since she had the cardiac arrest.
Initially she went to hospital for a broken hip and then overnight she actually had a cardiac arrest and she was resuscitated. And she came back after about eight minutes of cardiac compressions and resuscitation. Thankfully the brain MRI came back with no damage and she has been initially in a coma for about 10 days.
And when she woke up, they did a tracheostomy and now she’s having problems in weaning off the ventilator, probably also because of pain issues, because initially she had some fractured ribs after the CPR and she’s now very weak and she’s probably traumatized by all the events in the last few weeks and months.
So really my question is can we wean her at home with intensive care at home instead of leaving her in intensive care for the next few months, which is pretty much what the ICU is suggesting.
On the other hand, ICU has been suggesting that another way to deal with this situation is to “let her go and let her die and let nature take its course.”
Now, given that my mother is only 60 years of age, we want her to live and she wants to live. We also think that our mother feels very lonely and that again, she’s traumatised by being in ICU for so long and waking up now and slowly realizing of what is happening.
So the question really is how quickly can we take her home and wean her at home on the ventilator.
Thank you,
Charlie
Hi Charlie,
thanks for this question really appreciated.
Look, Charlie, here is the short version.
After three months in ICU and your mother being more stable and the only thing keeping her in ICU is the ventilation weaning.
Yes, she can definitely go home with our service INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME and we can continue weaning her off the ventilator at home.
It’s really good to hear that there is no brain damage after the cardiac arrest and that is very important.
You know, we can continue monitoring the atrial fibrillation at home. I’m pretty sure that the cardiologist has a plan mapped out in terms of how to treat the atrial fibrillation. And we can do that at home. That’s certainly not a reason to stay in ICU for the next few months and wean her off ventilation in ICU.
So what needs to happen in order for your mother to go home is, we need to set her up at home with the right equipment and the right staff.
We need to set you guys up with a 24 hour intensive home care nursing roster. So we will send you the intensive care nurses in the home 24 hours a day, and then we can continue weaning your Mother from home...
Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/my-mum-has-been-in-intensive-care-for-three-months-shes-on-a-ventilator-with-a-tracheostomy-after-a-cardiac-arrest-can-she-go-home-and-be-weaned-off-the-ventilator-at-home-instead-of-in-intensive/
20
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HOW LONG DOES A TRACHEOSTOMY PROLONG LIFE?
https://intensivecareathome.com/how-long-does-a-tracheostomy-prolong-life/
HOW LONG DOES A TRACHEOSTOMY PROLONG LIFE?
Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here
http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/
Call directly 24/7
+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada
+44 118 324 3018 UK
+6141 094 2230 Australia
Email support@intensivecarehotline.com
Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy
1:1 phone counselling
http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/
Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care
https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/
Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/
https://intensivecareathome.com
And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline
Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline
#icu
#intensivecare
#criticalcare
In today’s episode of of the INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME video blog, I want to answer another question from one of our readers and clients and the question today is
How long does a tracheostomy prolong life?
And that is a very good question.
And the question comes about because you know many of our prospects, clients and also people that just inquiry about our service have a loved one in intensive care with a tracheostomy and they simply want to know is the tracheostomy short term is it medium term is it long term?
Now in this particular situation, we’ve got an inquiry from a family who has their 19 month old daughter in intensive care with a tracheostomy after an anoxic brain injury.
Now, unfortunately, that little girl was born and was starved of oxygen during birth and ended up with an anoxic brain injury. She spent and has spent pretty much all of her life in intensive care on a ventilator with a tracheostomy and she is on the ventilator still, after all this time,
And obviously with a lack of specialist services in the community, she hasn’t been home yet. But obviously with a service like ours intensive care at home, she can go home. But the question is how long does a tracheostomy prolong the little girl’s life or anybody’s life for that matter?
And to cut the long short a tracheostomy and ventilation can prolong life for a long time. And you know, there could be debate about it, is it the right thing to ventilate someone for years to come or should it just be stopped?
But in this particular situation, you know, the family is grounded in strong religious faith and in their mind, only God can take away life.
And it shouldn’t be up to the intensive care team to stop life support just because the intensive care team thinks that this little girl wouldn’t have any quality of life.
Now, from my experience after having worked in intensive care for decades, there is definitely no quality of life/ quality of end of life in intensive care, that’s for sure.
But also after having worked for the same time with intensive care at home, there is definitely quality of life/ quality of end of life at home, not only for the little girl, but also for the little girl’s family.
You know, in intensive care,there’s a lot of noise. There’s a high risk for infection, especially at the moment with COVID-19.
But even outside of COVID-19 times, the risk for an infection in intensive care is simply through the roof. It’s huge.
At home, you’re in a clean environment, and it’s just so much nicer, more client and family friendly and simply more holistic!
Also, intensive care units are very noisy places.
The lights are on 24 hours a day, people come and go 24 hours a day.
People have no privacy, no dignity.
Compare that with a homecare environment especially since this little girl is stable. She’s not on any inotropes or vasopressors.
She’s not on any sedation, it’s simply the ventilation and tracheostomy that’s keeping her in intensive care because obviously ventilation and tracheostomy requires the skill and expertise of intensive care and pediatric intensive care nurses.
So the only option for the little 19 month old girl is to go home with our service INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME.
So let’s look at the economics of this as well.
So an intensive care bed is around $5,000 to $6,000 per bed day. And intensive care at home is about 50% of that cost.
So, on an economic level, this is a no brainer that using intensive care at home cuts the cost of an intensive care bed by 50%...
Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/how-long-does-a-tracheostomy-prolong-life/
13
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Is INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME a Genuine Alternative to LTAC (Long-Term Acute Care)?
https://intensivecarehotline.com/blog/is-intensive-care-at-home-a-genuine-alternative-to-ltac-long-term-acute-care/
Is INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME a Genuine Alternative to LTAC (Long Term Acute Care)?
Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here
http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/
Call directly 24/7
+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada
+44 118 324 3018 UK
+6141 094 2230 Australia
Email support@intensivecarehotline.com
Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy
1:1 phone counselling
http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/
Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care
https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/
Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/
https://intensivecareathome.com
And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline
Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline
#icu
#intensivecare
#criticalcare
Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com with another quick tip for families in intensive care and in LTAC.
So many families in intensive care come to us and they ask, is intensive care at home a genuine alternative to LTAC or to a long-term stay in intensive care and the short version is yes, but let me explain first.
When a patient is in intensive care and he’s on a ventilator with a breathing tube or endotracheal tube, and is in an induced coma and they can’t come off the ventilator for whatever reason and that reason often includes complacency of the intensive care unit, but I can come to that later.
And when a patient can’t come off the ventilator and the breathing tube, they often need a tracheostomy to wean them off the ventilator with more time, it basically buys patients more time to come off the ventilator.
However, there is certainly a caveat to that, and I have done numerous videos and blogs about that, how to wean a patient off the ventilator and the breathing tube in the first place to avoid the tracheostomy. But let’s just say a tracheostomy is unavoidable so then you’ve got to look at, okay, what are the best next steps?
Now ICUs often want to send out tracheostomy patients to an LTAC or long-term acute care facility and that’s quite frankly a disaster. Why is it a disaster? Because a ventilated and tracheostomy patient needs intensive care nurses, needs intensive care doctors, needs respiratory therapists in the United States at least. In LTAC, none of that is available.
So LTACs are designed to save money. They’re not designed for clinical relevancy. Going to LTAC is almost all of the time clinically irrelevant because basically, for lack of a better term, dumps ventilated patients in LTAC without looking at clinical need.
And again, for somebody that’s ventilated with a tracheostomy, you need to have intensive care nurses, intensive care doctors, et cetera. To keep clients safe, to keep patients safe and to wean them off the ventilator. LTACs have terrible success rates to wean patients off the ventilator. So why is it LTAC then, in the first place, it’s there to save money and empty ICU beds fast.
So, then coming back to intensive care at home. Is intensive care at home a genuine alternative to LTACs? Absolutely yes, because intensive care at home provides intensive care nurses for patients 24 hours a day at home. So that a genuine alternative to a long term stay in intensive care can be achieved and patients can go home from intensive care straight away.
So that’s my quick tip for today. Go and check out intensivecareathome.com for more information about the service and also, I should say an intensive care bed costs around five to $6,000 per bed day whereas intensive care at home costs around 50% of that.
So therefore health funding agencies have an interest in getting patients out of ICU and to intensive care at home. So it’s a win-win situation for everyone and you and your loved one have an improved quality of life by being at home. It’s a no brainer.
So go and check out intensivecareathome.com for more information.
This is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com and I’ll talk to you in a few days...
Continue reading at: https://intensivecarehotline.com/blog/is-intensive-care-at-home-a-genuine-alternative-to-ltac-long-term-acute-care/
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Can You Discharge a Patient Home from ICU Directly?
https://intensivecareathome.com/can-you-discharge-a-patient-home-from-icu-directly/
Can You Discharge a Patient Home from ICU Directly?
Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here
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Call directly 24/7
+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada
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And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
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In today’s blog, I want to answer a question that we get quite frequently here at intensive care at home and the question this week is
Can You Discharge a Patient Home from ICU Directly?
Now, what a great question to look at today, because any of you that are familiar with intensive care, the paradigm in intensive care, generally speaking for the last few decades, there’s two options for a patient in ICU, and that is number one they go to a hospital ward after discharge or they die.
So that’s a very limited mindset and it doesn’t serve the clients or the patients, and it doesn’t serve hospitals and intensive care units either. So then the question is, can you go home directly from ICU?
And the short answer to that question is yes, because with services like intensive care at home, you absolutely can go home from ICU directly, especially when it comes to long-term ventilation, tracheostomy, when it comes to BiPAP or noninvasive airway management, patients can go home directly.
And how does that work in practice? Well, it works in practice quite frankly because we replicate intensive care in the home. So basically what we do is we send intensive care nurses into the home 24 hours a day, just like an intensive care unit is staffed by intensive care nurses, 24 hours a day and we do exactly the same in the home care environment.
So from that perspective, we can provide an intensive care substitution service and we can improve the quality of life for patients and their families in the home.
So we basically provide all the equipment that is needed in the home care environment for long-term intensive care patients.
We can provide things like home TPN, which is intravenous nutrition, but we can also provide things like enteral nutrition, like either feeds with a PEG feed tube, or with a nasogastric feed tube.
But overall, we can also provide mechanical ventilation of course. We can provide tracheostomy care. We can provide non-invasive ventilation care such as BiPAP, CPAP...
Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/can-you-discharge-a-patient-home-from-icu-directly/
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INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME is Hiring ICU/PICU Nurses in Sydney and in Melbourne
INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME is hiring ICU/PICU nurses with a minimum of two years ICU/PICU experience and ideally a postgraduate critical care qualification in Melbourne and in Sydney!
For more information contact Patrik Hutzel on 041 094 2230 or email patrik@intensivecareathome.com
Check out our career section as well!
https://intensivecareathome.com/careers/
Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here
http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/
Call directly 24/7
+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada
+44 118 324 3018 UK
+6141 094 2230 Australia
Email support@intensivecarehotline.com
Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy
1:1 phone counselling
http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/
Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care
https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/
Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/
https://intensivecareathome.com
And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline
Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline
#icu
#intensivecare
#criticalcare
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