Monday's class: My response to your queries

This post is my weekly attempt to answer Internet search engine queries that lead someone to clicking onto my medblog.

I know that most people click on my site and leave two minutes later frustrated that my site is not what they were looking for. When, in actuality, if they would have hung around a bit, had a cup of coffee with me, they may have found the answer they were looking for.

This is what I'm going to make an effort to do every Monday.

1. vomiting bipap: This is a good question and something that was covered extensively in RT school. There are two types of masks patients can wear who are using BiPAP. There is a nasal mask, and a full face mask. If the patient is wearing a nasal mask, then there's no problem. However, in the hospital setting we use full face masks probably 90% of the time. And, if someone is throwing up with a mask on their face, their risk of aspiration (inhaling the vomit into the lungs and risking pneumonia) increases big time. Take the mask off if a patient is vomiting. If the patient is in the hospital and is on BiPAP to prevent him from needing a vent, intubation might need to be considered to protect the airway.
2. giving mucomyst without a bronchodilator: Mucomyst has the ability to break up thick secretions and making them easier to spit up (theoretically). It can cause bronchospasm, and should always be given with a bronchodilator, such as Albuterol.
3. vaponephrine dose for kids: At Shoreline we use 0.5cc Vaponephrine on all kids. It's safe. I have rarely ever notices an increase in heart rate as a result of this medicine, and usually if the heart rate does increase, it's because of the kid crying because he's annoyed by the RT.
4. efficacy of albuterol with chf: I've repeated this many times on this blog, but Albuterol will do nothing for CHF unless -- UNLESS -- the patient also has an underlying bronchospasm component. If you want to try one treatment to see if it does anything, go for it.
5. is a nurse above a respiratory therapist: Absolutely not. We are a team. Now, RNs are know to have a little more respect in society, but that is slowly changing. The reason is that nurses have been around since the Civil War, and RTs are only just getting started. RNs also get paid more than RTs, but that's only because of the nursing shortage and, partially, because of the respect thing. But, all in all, we are a team.
6. azthmacort: I took asthma cort for about 15 years, and never had much success with it. The main reason for this was compliance, as I was prescribed to use it four times a day. I think it's better to use a steroid inhaler that allows you to use it twice a day to increase compliance. I have better success with Flovent or Advair, but there are other options.
7. barriers to being a good respiratory therapist: Lack of respect I think is the main barrier. And lack of protocols that allow us to really excell at providing the best care to our patients at the least cost to the hospitals. However, due to lack of respect by doctors, many hospitals still do not have respiratory therapy or patient driven protocols. That's a shame, I think, and is the biggest barrier in my mind.
8. albuterol blow-by neonates: I find that most babies do not tolerate masks, however the results of using a mask may vary from patient to patient. If the child is sick enough, he or she might not care. Also, a blowby may result in the loss of 80% or more of the medicine to the atmoshphere. That said, giving a blowby is often better than doing nothing for a child who is having true bronchospasm.
9. should i give my daughter albuterol for croup: Only if there is underlying bronchospasm. Albuterol does absolutely nothing for croup.
10. cpap therapy for copd how it works: CPAP works to improve oxygenation. It helps a patient oxygenate better, and thus allows more oxygen to get into the bloodstream.
11. congestive heart failure croupiness: We hear this a lot in CHF patients. And, more often than not, RNs and RTs mistake this for a wheeze and recommend or order breathing treatments. Actually, this is caused due to increased secretions or fluid in the upper airway, and will not go away with a treatment. I would say that abaout 80% of CHF patients, patients with pulmonary edema, will have this harsh, upper airway, stridorous, croupy sound. This is something they should teach in school, but I'm not sure they do.
12. what is my internet time: Huh?
13. extra shift incentive pay respiratory: What do you mean by extra shift? Do you mean overtime. We get paid overtime for anything over 40 hours just like everybody else.
14. bad experiences with advair: Some people have bad experiences with Advair mostly becaue it has Serevent in it, which can make a person shakey and irritable. I would recommend weaning yourself onto the Advair slowly, instead of starting right out taking it twice a day. I'm patenting that idea. I recently wrote a post about this, check it out by clicking here.
15. stridor and aerosol therapy: See my answer to question #9.
16. duoneb and hyperkalemia: It would be the equivelent of taking an asprin for a heart attack. Need I say more.
17. why respiratory therapists are disrespected: I tried to explain this in my answer to #7 above. Maybe one of my fellow bloggers can word it better than me with a comment.
18. my doctor gave me potassium after an asthma attack why and what does potassium do f: Hopefully he gave potassium because lab results showed hyperkalemia, not because of some frivolous idea that one treatment of Albuterol will decrease Potassium. However, for a further answer, see #16 above.
19. definite sign of impending alcoholism: Okay, sorry sir or maam, but you had to read all of the above to learn that I do not have an answer to this question. Now, I could gather a pretty good educated guess, but I'm pretty sure you'd rather hear from a professional in that area rather than a lowly RT.
20. respiratory therapist 12 hours: I do not know of any hospitals where the RT does not work less than 12 hour shifts.
21. does albuterol breathing treatments make baby sleepy: Actually, it can be soporiphic. I know for it fact it puts some babies and even some adults asleep. Ah, maybe this gives me another idea for an 'olin.

If you have a question I have not addressed here, or if you want an answer right now, feel free to contact us anytime and we'll get you an answer ASAP. You can contact us at Freadom1776@yahoo.com, or RTcave@yahoo.com.

That concludes today's class.