Patient's experiences of endotracheal tubes and suction following cardiac surgery

Abstract

Background: There is a growing body of evidence addressing the patient experience of intensive care, including patient reports that the presence of an endotracheal tube is bothersome and distressing, and that endotracheal suction is moderately to extremely painful. Yet there remains little information about the patient experience of the endotracheal tube and suction in those patients receiving planned short-term mechanical ventilation.Aims and objectives: This study aimed to describe the patient experience of the endotracheal tube and suction, following mechanical ventilation in post-operative cardiac surgical patients.Design: This qualitative study used inductive thematic analysis. Participants having planned cardiac surgery, anticipated to receive less than 12-hours mechanical ventilation, were approached pre-operatively and written consent provided.Methods: Ten participants were recruited using purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted between days four and six post-operatively. One researcher interviewed all participants; two researchers independently read, coded, and agreed themes.Findings: None of the participants recalled endotracheal suction, while half had no recollection of the endotracheal tube. Three themes were identified; the experience of the endotracheal tube and extubation, the experience of emerging from sedation, and participants concerns about the future. The presence of the endotracheal tube was described as bothersome, whilst breathing through the tube and extubation were described as 'weird' and 'strange' but not painful.Conclusions: Knowledge of the patient experience can help inform nursing practice by improving pre and post-operative care planning.Relevance to clinical practice: This study adds to the body of knowledge about the patient experience of the endotracheal tube and extubation.

Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Intensive Care Experience Questionnaire(ICEQ)

“…Patients are exposed to multiple stressors (e.g., tracheal intubation, invasive therapy, closed management, constant lighting, being surrounded by unfamiliar machines, being separated from family and even witnessing the death of fellow patients, etc. ), ICU patients' experiences are predominantly negative and are described as "frightening and persecuting," "incarcerated," "pain, weakness," "nightmares, hallucinations," etc [11][12][13]. These negative experiences may lead to many outcomes [3,6,[13][14][15], including prolonged hospital stay, increased readmission rate and long-term mortality.…”

Spotlight on cardiac intensive care nursing

“…This issue includes a selection of papers on cardiac medical patients, 5–8 on post‐operative cardiac surgical patients 9–15 and on nurses' experiences and skills in delivering highly specialized extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) treatment 16,17 . We also have an interesting paediatric paper examining the impact on red blood cells when delivered through infusion pumps 18 and a paper studying the impact of mattress type on the effectiveness of chest compressions, 19 concluding with a provocative critical commentary on oxygen saturation targets in COVID‐19 patients 20 .…”