Understanding about Ambu Bag

An Ambu bag is a medical device used to provide assisted ventilation to people who are either not breathing or are having trouble breathing. The bag needs to be compressed to force a volume of air into the lungs. Ambu is a registered trademark name for a major manufacturer of the device. The technical name for the device is a bag valve mask resuscitator or BMV resuscitator.

Function

An Ambu bag is used by medical personnel, such as a nurse or respiratory therapist. Using an Ambu bag takes the place of forcing air into the lungs using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Bags come in different sizes for infants, children and adults. The different sizes are needed to deliver an appropriate tidal volume of air to the patient, based on his size.

Features

An Ambu bag consists of a bag, adapter and one-way valve. The bag is the main part of the device. It can be attached directly to an endotracheal tube or a mask using the adapter. The bag also has a one-way valve which allows the oxygen to flow to the patient and prevents the patient from breathing in his exhaled air. Some bags may have a reservoir, which increases the amount of oxygen the patient receives.

6 Hard Truths You Will Face When You Become a Nurse

It is true that the nursing experience had scarred me for life. I have helped the helpless thinking that if I give a lot of love around then I would also receive the same amount in return. But sadly, part of the career would also mean enduring treatments of ungratefulness from the people you have served. The profession will really push you to your limits and no matter how huge your efforts were to deliver the best nursing care to your patients, somehow, it is never enough. How I was treated by my patients and the company that I worked with seems to influence my view with my profession, changing it into a job that only pays the bills and not as a way of life. Eventually, I have reached a disordered way of looking at the profession. I am no longer seeing the real meaning of being a nurse and my perspective changed.

Vitamins

Vitamins are also known as supplements. Nowadays, one can get many types of vitamins as well as herbs in capsules or tablets from the pharmacies, clinics or even the supermarket. There are basically two types of vitamins : natural and synthetic. The latter is manufactured in laboratories whereas the former is extracted from natural sources. Supplements have become very popular since the last few decades both in the East and the West.

Assisting Patient with Oral Care

Adequate oral hygiene care is imperative to promote the patient’s sense of well-being and prevent deterioration of the oral cavity. Poor oral hygiene is reported to lead to the colonization of the oropharyngeal secretions by respiratory pathogens. Diligent oral hygiene care can improve oral health and limit the growth of pathogens in the oropharyngeal secretions, decreasing the incidence of aspiration pneumonia and other systemic diseases (Yoon & Steele, 2007; American Association of Critical-Care Nurses [AACN], 2006). The mouth requires care even during illness, but sometimes care must be modified to meet a patient’s needs. If the patient can assist with mouth care, provide the necessary materials. Oral care is important not only to prevent dental caries but also to improve the patient’s self-image. Oral care should be done at least twice a day for ambulatory patients.

NCP: Ineffective Airway Clearance

Nursing Assessment

Johti Singh is a 39-year-old secretary who was admitted to  the hospital with an elevated temperature, fatigue, rapid, labored respirations; and mild dehydration. The nursing history reveals that Ms. Singh has had a “bad cold” for several weeks that just wouldn’t go away. She has been dieting for several months and skipping meals. Ms. Singh mentions that in addition to her full-time job as a secretary she is attending college classes two evenings a week. She has smoked one package of cigarettes per day since she was 18 years old. Chest x-ray confirms pneumonia.

6 Surprising Health Benefits of Honey

Honey is one of the oldest sweeteners on earth. It is used to sweeten tea and other delicious foods. But actually, it offers more than just flavor. Many Researches show that honey provides a variety of health benefits as well. Here are the top 6 benefits of honey: 

  1. Fight against acid reflux

Research published in the British Medical Journal found that honey may be an effective way to prevent acid reflux by coating the esophagus.  Researchers determined honey is 125.9 times more viscous than distilled water, and forms a much better coating, which can help reduce heartburn.

Learning Theories in Nursing

Learning theories refers to theoretical frameworks which try to explain how people and animals learn, thereby helping us understand the inherently complex process of learning. Learning refers to “a persisting change in human performance or performance potential brought about   as a result of the learner’s interaction with the   environment”. There are three main categories of learning theories: behaviorism, cognitivism, and humanism.

Preload and Afterload of Heart

It is true that the basic function of heart is to pump blood and supply oxygenated blood to body tissues, but in reality, the heart is a complex body organ and so many factors determine how much blood is pumped through the body. Preload and afterload are two determinants of how much blood the heart pumps in a minute (cardiac output).

What is cardiac output?

The volume of blood pumped by the heart per minute is its cardiac output. It is measured in mL blood/min. Cardiac output refers to the function of stroke volume and heart rate. The heart rate refers

to the number of times your heart beats in a minute. The stroke volume refers to how much blood get pumped out of heart with each beat. Cardiac output will increase if stroke volume or heart rate increases.

Monitoring Temperature Using an Overhead Radiant Warmer

Neonates, infants who are exposed to stressors or chilling (e.g., from undergoing numerous procedures), and infants who have an underlying condition that interferes with thermoregulation (e.g., prematurity) are highly susceptible to heat loss. Therefore, radiant warmers are used for infants who have trouble maintaining body temperature. In addition, use of a radiant warmer minimizes the oxygen and calories that the infant would expend to maintain body temperature, thereby minimizing the effects of body temperature changes on metabolic activity.

An overhead radiant warmer warms the air to provide a neutral thermal environment, one that is neither too warm nor too cool for the patient. The incubator temperature is adjusted to maintain an anterior abdominal skin temperature of 36.5°C (97.7°F), but at least 36°C (96.8°F), using Servocontrol (automatic thermostat) (Sinclair, 2002).

Roles and Functions of the Nurse

Ms Phina TOUCH, NICU nurse/Cambodia;

Nurses assume a number of roles when they provide care to clients. Nurses often carry out these roles concurrently, not exclusively of one another. For example, nurse may act as a counselor while providing physical care and teaching aspects of that care. The roles required at a specific time depend on the needs of the client and aspects of the particular environment. 
The following are the roles and functions of nurse:

Caregiver

The caregiver role has traditionally included those activities that assist the client physically and psychologically while preserving the clients’ dignity. The required nursing actions may involve full care for the completely dependent client, partial care the partially dependent client, and supportive-educative care to assist clients attaining their highest possible level of health and wellness. Caregiving encompasses the physical, psychological, developmental, cultural, and spiritual levels. The nursing process provides nurses with a framework for providing care. A nurse may provide care directly or delegate it to other caregivers.

What Kind of Care Do Preterm Babies Need?

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Q: What kind of care do preterm babies need?   

Babies who are born preterm need the same care that other babies get and even a little more.This includes:

• Essential newborn care:

o All babies need to be protected from infections: everyone who touches the mother or the baby should have clean hands. Medical examinations and procedures should only be done if necessary. Sterile gloves and cutting devices should be used for clamping and cutting the umbilical cord.

Effective Communication Techniques in Medical Emergency

Effective communication is a two-way process that involves sending the right message in the right way that is correctly received and understood. It sounds like an easy process. In fact, people communicate every day in many ways. But is this communication always effective?

Research suggests that much of our communication is not effective. In 2004, The Joint Health Care Commission found that in 70% of 2455 sentinel events the primary root cause was communication failure — and in 75% of these the patient died.

Because effective communication is so important to patient safety, many agencies have mandated that organizations implement improvement strategies. Tools such as SBAR (situation, background, assessment and recommendation), call out, check back, and handoff have all been suggested as ways to improve staff’s communication.

What Is Special Care Baby Unit?

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A Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) is a specialist ward that a baby will be admitted onto if it requires medical help after birth. It may also be known as a neonatal unit (NNU).

Babies placed on SCBU will require care that is less intensive than the treatment provided in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Therefore, some babies may enter SCBU after receiving treatment in NICU, or may be admitted straight to SCBU if their condition from birth has been less critical.

The SCBU is staffed by specialised paediatricians and paediatric nurses. The equipment on SCBU includes incubators, radiant warmers and a range of machinery that will monitor vital signs such as heart and breathing activity.

Additionally, the temperature within SCBU is usually cooler than NICU, and some SCBUs may feature an even cooler room to help acclimatise a baby to the temperatures it will experience when he or she is allowed home.

What You Need to Know about IV Cannula

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The intravenous cannula is used by medical personnel to access the vein of patient, either for injecting medicine or withdrawing blood. This is commonly known as an IV. It is made in different gauge sizes. The smaller the gauge number, the bigger the needle will be. As a new nurse, you may find it difficult to spot its’ differences. Luckily, most manufacturers color code their IV needles. Here’s a little rhyme you can use to help you remember what colors correspond to what sized gauge: 22 is blue and 18 is green, pink is the one in the middle. However, there are other IV gauge sizes besides these.

      Gauge sizes, Color code and Recommended uses

International Women’s Day: 5 of the most influential women to remember in nursing profession

Happy International Women’s Day! It’s day to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women around the globe. It is also a time to encourage people to take action to improve gender equality. And today, to mark our great achievements in nursing profession, hear are 5 of the most influential nurses in history to remember:

1.      Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)

Florence Nightingale: born May 12, 1820. Early on in life, Florence Nightingale developed a keen interest in nursing, but her parents refused to allow her to train; as they considered nursing not to be a worthy occupation for a woman of Florence’s social standing.

Eventually her parents gave in to her wishes and allowed her to study. In 1851, she went to Germany to take three months of nurse training. On her return to England she took up a position at a hospital for ‘gentlewomen’ in London. Soon after came the outbreak of the Crimean War and Nightingale was approached to train and oversee a team of nurses who were designated to provide care to injury stricken soldiers in the military hospitals in Turkey.

After the war, she established the Nightingale Training School for Nurses at St Thomas' Hospital in London, and nurses were trained here to be sent to hospitals across Britain. In turn the newly trained nurses were sent to spread the word of Nightingale’s nurse training. Nightingale published her theories on nursing training in 1860 which were widely influential. Her concerns about sanitation, military health as well as hospital planning helped to set in place the practices that are still in use within the field of hospital care today.

The Reason Nurses Should Put Themselves Before Their Patients

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I’m a critical care nurse who works the night shift, so sleep and I have had a precarious relationship in the past. There’d be yelling; there’d be tossing and turning; there’d be wistful glances at the alarm clock to count down how many hours I wouldn’t get restful shut eye that night. There’d be even more tossing and turning, followed by a pleading apology to the sleep gods for whatever misdeed I’d done to deserve such a sleepless existence. Thankfully, during my six years on the job, I’ve learned a thing or two about trying to snag a good night’s sleep in a high-stress, chronically sleep-deprived profession.

3 Things You Can Do to Stop Gossip in Nursing Station

Gossip, no matter which side we look at it from, is a part of human nature. In fact, it’s one of the ways our ancestors thrived during their time. Sharing information and news about other groups and tribes increased their survival rate by enabling them to stay ahead with their resources and possessions.

In nursing, however, gossiping and spreading rumors go beyond being unacceptable. It is a breach of your oath that can end up with serious legal implications. To stop this negative behavior from spreading in your area, here are three things you can do to address gossiping.