VENTILATION AND TRACHEOSTOMY – HOW LONG IS THE INTENSIVE CARE STAY?

Published on December 30, 2014 by Patrik in Blog

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Hi it’s Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVECAREATHOME.COM.AU where we provide tailor made solutions for long-term ventilated Adults& Children with Tracheostomy 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 last week’s blog I talked about “LONG-TERM VENTILATION AND TRACHEOSTOMY IN INTENSIVE CARE, 3 REASONS WHY HEALTH CONSUMERS NEED TO DEMAND MORE!”

You can check out last week’s BLOG here!

In this week’s BLOG I want to talk about

“VENTILATION AND TRACHEOSTOMY- HOW LONGIS THE INTENSIVE CARE STAY?”

First up, happy new year to you, the reader of our blog! I hope you have a successful, happy and healthy new year!

Thank you for continuing to support INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME’s cause and mission!

Now, as you know many critically ill Patients in Intensive Care that end up ventilated with a Tracheostomy, by far exceed their projected length of stay in Intensive Care!

And if you look at the medical conditions of long-term ventilated Adults& Children with tracheostomies who have exceeded their projected length of stay, they tend to be mainly medically stable, off inotropes and off sedation.

And yet, many Intensive Care Units and hospitals still work from a paradigm that Patients when they leave Intensive Care either go to the ward or die. It’s a very black and white approach and it doesn’t leave much room for flexibility and it doesn’t serve Intensive Care Units and it doesn’t serve Patients and their Families!

It’s a very conservative approach and it doesn’t take into consideration what our service is successfully providing to our Clients and what has successfully been done in many European countries for more than 15 years now, to take long-term ventilated Adults& Children with tracheostomies home with Intensive Home Care nursing services such as INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME!

The upside of this approach is limitless as it creates win-win situations all around as it

Improves the quality of life and/or quality of end of life for long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies and their families

2. Finally introduces cost savings for hospitals, departments of health, private health funds and other health funding agencies who pay in excess of $ 4,500 for a bed day in Intensive Care

3. Provides a holistic care model for long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies and their families

4. Provides opportunities for Patients and their families who can finally carry on with their lives, rather than staying in Intensive Care for months on end

5. Frees up scarce, expensive, “in-demand” and precious ICU beds that can be used for other more acutely unwell Patients in need of an Intensive Care bed

Families, who previously put their lives on hold because their loved one staying in ICU can finally go back to live their lives, go back to their jobs, families etc… rather than spending day and night in Intensive Care.

If we keep long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies in Intensive Care for longer than necessary, society is paying a huge cost by having disrupted Family lives, rather than providing a holistic service that takes into account the needs of all stakeholders such as the Patients, their Families, Intensive Care Units, Hospitals, Departments of health and private health insurances.

Everybody who has worked in Intensive Care has seen the “Guillan Barre Patient” who has been in ICU for 6 months because of their ventilator dependency and they were otherwise medically stable.

That Patient could have been weaned off the ventilator at home and then continued their treatment in hospital after being weaned off the ventilator.

They can be with their family, rather than in ICU, have a better quality of life at home, free up the ICU bed and in the process save hundreds of thousands of Dollars $$$ of precious tax payers money.

It’s a no-brainer.

What are your thoughts?

Do you think that it’s time for Intensive Care Units to embrace the extension of their services into a home care environment for long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies?

Leave your comments on the blog!

Please also note that INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME has been selected as a preferred provider for Queensland Health Services as part of the recent “Hospital in the Home” tender.

We are also currently hiring enthusiastic and experienced Intensive Care nurses with Critical Care certificate for a ventilated Melbourne Client, close to the CBD. For more information check out our Career section here www.intensivecareathome.com.au/careers or contact Patrik on 041 094 2230

You can also contact me on 041 094 2230 if you want to know more about how we can help you, your Intensive Care Unit and your Patients and Families.

Thank you for tuning into this week’s blog.

This is Patrik Hutzel from www.intensivecareathome.com.au and I’ll see you again in another update next week.

After more than 13 years Intensive Care Nursing experience, in a variety of Intensive Care Nursing settings across Australia, the United Kingdom and Germany, which included Trauma, General, Cardiac, Neurology, Paediatrics, as well as providing Intensive Care Nursing for long-term ventilated Patients and their Families in their own home, Patrik Hutzel has gained valuable and tremendous insight into the world of Intensive Care and Critical Care. Not only has Patrik gained insight and experience from a Clinical and a Nursing point of view, but he has also gained excellent insight about frustrations, the limitations, the pain, the suffering, the difficulties and the patience, Families and their critically ill loved ones in Intensive Care are usually dealing with, as they are generally dealing with the unexpected and often life threatening situations that are changing Families and their critically ill loved ones life in an instant.