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“Addressing Education and Care Gaps in Tracheostomy Management: Insights from a Multi-Stakeholder Global Survey.” That’s a survey that has come from the Global Tracheostomy Collaborative. It’s a good survey where gaps are identified for tracheostomy management, either in hospitals or also in the community.

I’ve been dissecting this survey in a multi-part video series here, where I break down every section of it and offer solutions. Whilst the survey is giving good insights, it does not offer solutions, whereas we at Intensive Care at Home, I believe we have all the solutions.

Today, we go to the next section of the survey where we look at teamwork and collaboration. I will also put the link in this video in the written version of this blog post to the survey.

Teamwork and Collaboration

Challenges related to teamwork and interdisciplinary collaboration were significant, with respondents reporting the absence of dedicated tracheostomy teams and personnel to support data-driven care.

Once again, we have that at Intensive Care at Home because we exclusively work with critical care trained nurses with a minimum of 2 years critical care nursing experience and they are tracheostomy trained. So, we have already thought this through over 13 years ago when we first started.

A lack of coordination among healthcare professionals was frequently noted…

Once again, we don’t have that because we have a workforce that knows how to look after tracheostomies.

A lack of coordination among healthcare professionals was frequently noted, hindering efforts to standardize care and reduce variability in practices.

Once again, we’ve got all of that. We’ve got standardizing care as well. For example, when you look on our website at intensivecareathome.com, there’s a section, the Mechanical Home Ventilation Guidelines , and they are evidence-based. Those evidence-based Mechanical Home Ventilation Guidelines clearly recommend that the gold standard is to exclusively work with critical care trained nurses, with a minimum of 2 years of critical care nursing experience are able and safe to look after tracheostomy and ventilated clients in the community, and the same is applicable to hospitals. So, we’ve got an answer for everything.

 

Respondents also cited limited community resources and inconsistent infection control practices as barriers to effective teamwork.

Again, limited community resources, yes, there are limitations, but we lift those limitations and we bring resources into the community actually with Intensive Care at Home. I disagree that there’s inconsistent infection control practices. When you work with critically care trained nurses, they do know how to do proper infection control.

These findings highlight the need for targeted interventions that prioritize collaboration and foster cohesive care strategies. We’ve done all of that way back when.

The survey continues,

Building on these insights, interprofessional collaboration emerges as a pivotal solution to address these challenges. Previous studies have identified similar barriers to effective tracheostomy management, including a shortage of healthcare professionals with adequate tracheostomy knowledge, inadequate training and support for caregivers, and difficulties accessing care, which align with the findings of our study.

Again, no one’s thinking outside of the box. We’ve created an Intensive Care at Home since 2012, addressing all of these issues, whether it’s training, support, whether it’s access, whether it’s affordability, because we cut the cost of an intensive care bed by 50%. We’ve addressed all of that way back when, with our solution and with our proposal to the market.

However, unlike previous research that has primarily focused on clinical outcomes, our study provides a holistic view by incorporating perspectives from a diverse group of interprofessional stakeholders including speech-language pathologists, nurses, respiratory therapists, patients, caregivers, healthcare administrators, and social workers. This comprehensive approach adds depth to understanding tracheostomy care challenges and emphasizes the need for interventions that address not only clinical gaps but also caregiver education and resource allocation.

Like I said, we’ve addressed all of that way back when, and we have solutions. We don’t need a survey. I’ve worked in the industry for over 25 years and I’ve spotted the gaps. Our team has spotted the gaps. We know what the market needs, it don’t need lengthy surveys, just need to talk to patients and families.

Tracheostomy care spans several disciplines, necessitating broad stakeholder engagement, as emphasized during the COVID-19 pandemic era. The critical role of interprofessional teams is increasingly recognized, along with the significant contribution of the larger community in supporting tracheostomy care domestically and internationally. By implementing dedicated interprofessional teams, healthcare systems can enhance communication, streamline collaborative decision-making, and reduce barriers to effective tracheostomy care. These teams can ultimately mitigate adverse outcomes, promote consistent practices, and improve the quality and safety of care for tracheostomy patients.

Sounds all nice in theory, but sounds very abstract. We have tangible results, we have tangible solutions. Ask our clients, look up our testimonials, and talk to our clients. There’s no other service in the community that brings a higher skill level in the community when it comes to tracheostomy care, ventilation care in the community than Intensive Care at Home. It’s as simple as that.

So, in the next video, we continue with patient empowerment and family engagement as part of the survey.

So, with Intensive Care at Home, we are currently sending our ICU and critical care nurses into the home, 24 hours a day. We are providing the following:

• Home care services for ventilated adults & children with tracheostomies with critical care nurses 24 hours a day
• Genuine alternative to a long-term stay in intensive care or at long-term acute care
• Tracheostomy care
• Home care services for patients on non-invasive ventilation such as Home BIPAP (Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure), Home CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure)
• Home TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition), which is also known as IV nutrition
• Home IV potassium and home IV magnesium infusions, IV fluids, and IV antibiotics
• Providing central line management, PICC (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter) line management, Hickman’s line management, as well as port management at home.
• Providing nasogastric tube  and PEG (Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy) tube management at home
• Use cough assist machines for our clients for airway clearance at home
• Palliative care services at home
• Ventilator weaning at home

We’re also sending our critical care nurses into the home for emergency department bypass services. We have done so successfully as part of the Western Sydney Local Area Health District their in-touch program, saving approximately $2,000 per patient that we keep at home, instead of them going to an emergency department .

That also means, we’re also in a position to cut the cost of an intensive care bed by around 50%. An intensive care bed costs between $5,000 to $6,000 per bed day. Our services costs between $2,500 to $3,000 per bed day, and we’re freeing up the most sought-after bed in the hospital, which is the ICU bed. Most importantly, we’re improving the quality of life for patients and their families, which is a win-win situation for all stakeholders. Of course, quality of life is much improved surrounded by families instead of staying in an intensive care unit.

With Intensive Care at Home, we are currently operating all around Australia in all major capital cities as well as in all regional and rural areas. We’re a NDIS approved service provider all around Australia, TAC (Transport Accident Commission) and WorkSafe in Victoria, and Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA) all around Australia. Our clients and we, as a service provider, have also received funding through public hospitals, private health funds, as well as Departments of Health.

We are currently the only service provider in Australia that has achieved third-party accreditation  for Intensive Care at Home nursing in 2025. We have been achieving this level of accreditation since 2012. No other provider in Australia has created more intellectual property when it comes to Intensive Care at Home nursing than we have. This puts us in a position to employ hundreds of years of critical care nursing experience combined in the community. No other service provider in 2025 employs a higher skill level in the community than we do, which enables us to look after the highest acuity adults and children in the community in Australia safely.

If you’re at home already and you’re watching this, or you’re stuck in an ICU, or if you’re going to the hospital and ED all the time and you realize that you don’t have the right level of support at home, or if you’re living in an ICU, I’ll give you another tangible and real-world example today.

One of our first clients when we first got started in 2012, was a client who was at home initially on a ventilator with a tracheostomy with a support worker model 24/7. Of course, support workers are not equipped to look after a client at home on a ventilated and tracheostomy client. That is dangerous and it’s negligent. Having support workers looking after a client at home on a ventilator with a tracheostomy. It’s like flying the airplane with the cabin crew instead of the pilot, because anyone on a ventilator with a tracheostomy is at very high risk of medical emergencies 24/7, or even at risk of dying if they don’t have a team of critical care nurses looking after them 24/7 at home. This is actually evidence-based and is documented in our Mechanical Home Ventilation Guidelines  that you can find on our website at intensivecareathome.com.

Think about it, in an intensive care unit in a hospital, you wouldn’t have support workers looking after your critically ill loved one or after any critically ill patient on a ventilator with a tracheostomy. So, why would anyone in their right mind do that in a home care environment in the community?

So, this client found out about us eventually and the ICU that he went back to all the time also knew about us and eventually reached out to us. We were proving our concept with this client very fast. When we worked with this particular client, we sent him intensive care nurses, 24 hours a day. He never ever went back into ICU ever again, as long as we working with this client.

We can do the same for you if you’re not safe at home and help you with keeping you at home predictably. Otherwise, we would not be in business. The same is applicable for those stuck in an ICU, similar to our case study that I’ve given you, or if you’re going back to ED all the time, please reach out to us. We can help you with taking you through the right steps including how to get funding with different funding bodies.

This is also why we are providing Level 2 and Level 3 NDIS Support Coordination . We have a team of NDIS Support Coordinators, and they have a wealth of knowledge. I’ve done an interview with Amanda Riches one of our NDIS Support Coordinators, and I’ll put a link to an interview with Amanda in the written version of this blog. We’re also providing TAC case management in Victoria.

If you’re a NDIS Support Coordinator or a case manager from another organization watching this, and you’re looking for nursing care for your participants, please reach out to us as well. If you need more evidence for nursing care, we are also writing NDIS nursing assessments with legal nurse critical care consulting nurses.

If you are a critical care nurse and you’re looking for a career change, and you want to join a very progressive, dynamic, and high performing team of critical care nurses in the community, we’re employing hundreds of years of critical care nursing experience combined. You can join this high performing team.

If you’re looking for a career change, we’re currently hiring for jobs for critical care nurses in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, in Albury, Wodonga, Bendigo, in Geelong, and in Warragul in Victoria. If you have worked in critical care nursing for a minimum of 2 years pediatric ICU, ED, and you have already completed a postgraduate critical care nursing qualification, we will be delighted hearing from you.

I do have a disclaimer though, because we are offering a tailor-made solution for our clients, which includes regular staff, our clients also do want the same staff coming over and over again because they are so vulnerable and so special, and that’s why we need regular staff. So, if you’re looking for agency work where you can come and go, this will not be the right fit for you. We are looking for consistency and our clients are looking for consistency. So please, only apply with us if you can give us regular and consistent availabilities for shifts and you’re really keen on building solid relationships with us and with our clients.

If you are an intensive care specialist or an ED specialist, we also want to hear from you. We’re currently expanding our medical team as well. We can also help you eliminate your bed blocks in your ICU and in your ED for your long-term patients, or for your regularly readmitting patients with our critical care nursing team at home. We’re here to help you take the pressure off your ICU and ED beds. In most cases, you won’t even pay for it. Even if you do pay for it, it is so much more cost-effective than what you’re paying for in ICU and ED, and you get the same level of care.

If you’re a hospital executive watching this and you have bed blocks in your ICU, ED, and respiratory wards, or home TPN, please reach out to us as well. We can help you eliminate your bed blocks very fast.

If you’re in the U.S. or in the U.K. and you’re watching this and you need help, we want to hear from you as well. We can help you there privately with one-on-one consulting and with hiring nurses privately.

Once again, our website is intensivecareathome.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website or simply send us an email to [email protected].

If you like my videos, subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families with Intensive Care at Home and intensive care. Click the like button, click the notification bell, share this video with your friends and families, and comment below what you want to see next or what questions and insights you have from this video.

Thank you so much for watching.

This is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecareathome.com and I will talk to you in a few days.

Take care for now.