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Hi it’s Patrik from INTENSIVECAREATHOME.COM.AU where we help long-term ventilated Adults& Children with Tracheostomy to improve their Quality of life and where we also help hospitals and Intensive Care Units to save money and resources, whilst providing Quality Care!
In last week’s blog I was talking about “We can’t always cure long-term ventilated Adults& Children with Tracheostomy, but we can always care for our Clients’ Quality of Life and/or their Quality of-end-of-Life”. You can check it out here here.
In this week’s blog I want to answer a question that I have been asked by many people who are interested in the concept of Intensive Home Care nursing for long-term ventilated Adults& Children with Tracheostomy and the question is “INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME is it evidence based?”
It’s a great question to ask and especially in this day and age, where transparency is paramount and easily achieved with the help of the Internet, all I can say is that a lot of research and even more importantly, field experience has been gained in countries where Intensive Home Care services for long-term ventilated Adults& Children with Tracheostomy have been a successful reality for the last 15 years.
For example the “Guidelines for Non-Invasive and Invasive mechanical ventilation for treatment of chronic respiratory failure” have been issued by the German Society for Pulmonolgy in 2010 and those guidelines are up to date and current and they also present what is the best evidence based option for long-term ventilated Adult or Child with Tracheostomy. And that option is not a long-term stay in Intensive Care and the only option for long-term ventilated Adults& Children with Tracheostomy is Home. Those EVIDENCE BASED guidelines are accessible on our website here
Those guidelines have been derived from now 15 years of mechanical home ventilation for long-term ventilated Adults& Children with Tracheostomy as a genuine alternative to a long-term stay in Intensive Care. Services have been exclusively delivered by specialised Intensive Home Care nursing services.
The guidelines are evidence based and you can find the references at the end of the guidelines.
The option for long-term ventilated Adults& Children with Tracheostomy to go home with specialised and designated Intensive Home Care nursing services was born out of necessity to improve the Quality of Life for long-term ventilated Adults& Children with Tracheostomy and their Families and also to free expensive and scarce Intensive Care beds and therefore minimise expenses and cut down surgical and medical waiting lists. A much needed win-win situation!
Therefore Intensive Home Care nursing services have been massively successful in many European countries and in many parts of the USA, with not only drastic positive benefits for long-term ventilated Adults& Children with Tracheostomy and their Families in regards to their improved Quality of Life and/or Quality of-end-of-Life. The benefits for the health system and for Intensive Care Units in particular are obvious and they include and are not limited to
• Having an empty ICU bed that can be used for more acutely ill Patients that occupy ICU beds for shorter periods
• Having a more satisfied nursing and medical workforce who is getting excited by looking after more acutely unwell Intensive Care Patients
• Reallocation of resources targeted towards higher acuity ICU care
• Reduced hospital waiting lists(surgical and/or medical)
• Admit Patients to Intensive Care within the 4 hour rule from Emergency Departments
• Save expensive Overtime, Casual or Agency rates for nursing staff used for a long-term Patient that can be in a different, more Patient and Family focused environment
What are your thoughts and experiences? Leave your comments on the blog here.
If you want to discuss your needs and how we can help your Intensive Care Unit and your long-term ventilated Patients and their Families and if your organisation wants to free up ICU beds or if you simply have any questions, give me a call on 041 094 2230 or simply reply to this email.
This is Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVECAREATHOME.COM.AU and I’ll see you again in another update next week.