The intensive care unit is the intensive care unit, also known as the ICU ward. Treatment, nursing, and rehabilitation can all be carried out simultaneously, providing isolation facilities and equipment for critically ill or comatose patients, and offering the best possible care. Today, let's learn about some nursing routines for patients in the intensive care unit.
1、 Keeping the environment clean and tidy is very important. At the same time, it is necessary to maintain appropriate temperature and humidity, regularly ventilate and exchange air, strengthen patient warmth, and avoid catching a cold.
2、 Keep the respiratory tract unobstructed
It is necessary to regularly turn the patient over, pat the back, and suction phlegm. The suction time should not exceed 15 seconds each time. Sputum can be suctioned out through a suction tube. If the respiratory tract is obstructed and hypoxia worsens, a ventilator can be used. Patients wearing dentures need to remove them to prevent unnecessary trouble caused by accidentally entering the trachea.
3、 Closely monitor changes in patients' consciousness and vital signs. Attention should also be paid to observing the patient's overall condition, changes in the nervous system, etc., and detailed records should be made. When the coma deepens, breathing becomes irregular, or blood pressure becomes unstable, it is necessary to inform the doctor in a timely manner. In addition, it is necessary to observe and record the color, characteristics, and quantity of the patient's excrement, and promptly notify the doctor if any abnormalities are found.
4、 Provide patients with appropriate sleeping positions based on their condition. Patients should be placed in comfortable sleeping positions that are conducive to rest and recovery. For comatose or restless patients, protective measures such as adding bed stalls and pressure ulcer prevention pads should also be taken. One thing to note is that the consent of the family members is required.
5、 Proper nutritional care for patients
Intensive care unit patients are critically ill, mostly in a coma or sedation state, and therefore have no dietary or language function. They can only rely on nasal feeding to maintain their lives, with the most commonly used being a mixed milk and homogenized diet. Homogenized diet can use all the foods we usually eat, except for those that may cause allergies to patients. Other foods such as rice, fish and shrimp, eggs, noodles, chicken, pig liver, vegetables, etc. can be fed through nasal feeding tubes as long as they are slag free, and the nutrition is relatively balanced.
6、 Strengthen safety care
Ensure that the items, drugs, and equipment used for rescue are in a standby state. The status of instruments and equipment during use should be tested in advance, especially for devices such as monitors and ventilators, which need to maintain good alarm settings and be in the open state. Patients who are restless and agitated should add bed barriers to prevent them from falling off the bed. Female patients should remove hair clips from their heads, trim their nails, and prevent scratching their skin due to irritability.
7、 Strengthen basic care
Perform oral care at least twice a day, and for patients with indwelling catheters, care for the urethral opening twice a day. Patients who require tracheotomy care need to undergo 4 to 6 procedures per day. It is also necessary to promptly assess whether all facilities in the ward are damaged. If any instruments cannot be used, they need to be repaired in a timely manner. Basic nursing must be done well in order to help patients recover better.
8、 Pay attention to psychological care
Medical staff should promptly care for and comfort patients. Patients may experience anxiety, so it is important to communicate well with their families and obtain their cooperation. The most important thing is to provide psychological care to patients through medical staff, so that critically ill patients can receive treatment with the best mentality and reduce their psychological burden.