Nurse Problems what should i do?!

Nurse Problems what should i do?

OK my mom is in the ICU. the daytime RT and the night time RN are not doing there job OK ... i went there to go see my mom she has a breathing thing that breaths for her;she was choking pretty much she said she couldn't breath cuz i read her lips i told the doctor and he said OK its just anxiety and he walked out the room. i know my mom she couldnt breath she needed the appropiate help ,so i was yelling to someone that could help my mom then another Nurse came in to clean the tubes to help here breath. i asked for another RN and RT, made a complain well what should i do? and who should i talk to?

When a person is on a ventilator and has an endotrachial tube placed in their trachea it bypasses all the physiological "bits" that tell your brain you are breathing.

You still feel your chest rise and fall and all that, but some of the other input that you're probably not even aware of right now isn't working. It's actually VERY common for people on ventilators to "feel" like they can't breath, when in fact the machine is doing the breathing for them.

This feeling is very unsettling and can cause people to have anxiety attacks, which is what it sounds like you're describing.

There are some things like mucus plugs and excessive secretions (among other things) that can cause issues with the ventilation. If those are the case you would see the patients SaO2 drop (because less oxygen is getting in the blood) and the ventilator would start alarming (which can also be caused by the patient having an anxiety attack).

In any event, if the doctor, RN, and RT all checked and none of them saw anything wrong with the "mechanical" items that are supporting your mom then I would chalk it up to anxiety.

Look at it this way, she's in an INTENSIVE care unit. EVERYONE who works there know's their job very well. They don't just let any idiot off the street or fresh out of school work in there (at least not as far as RT's).

I know it's hard to see her like that and not be able to do anything, and seeing someone come in, look around and leave without obviously doing something may seem like they're not doing their job. But you have to have a degree of trust in the people caring for your mom.

Still, if you seriously suspect neglect or just have misgivings or questions about the care your mom is getting by all means ask to talk to the admin rep or house supervisor (same person, same job, but different facilities use different titles). You should be an informed part of the care your mom is getting.

I know that might not be the answer you're looking for, but I hope it helps.