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Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: Grandma’s been on a Ventilator with a Breathing Tube for a Week, Even Though She was Fully Conscious!

“My grandmother has been on a ventilator with a breathing tube for one week now even though she was fully conscious and tried taking it out 5 days ago. But her nurses in ICU have tied her down, I need help.” That is an email from Ina.

My name is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com, and this is another quick tip for families in intensive care.

I’m really sorry that you are going through this with your grandma and with your family. Seeing your grandma restrained on a ventilator can be incredibly painful and confusing, especially if your grandmother has been conscious, responsive, and trying to remove the breathing tube for 5 days.

It’s important to ask some critical questions. Number one, why is she intubated in the first place? What led to her needing intubation? So, intubation is the insertion of a breathing tube. Ask the medical team why she hasn’t been transitioned to a tracheostomy if needed long-term, or weaned off the ventilator  altogether. Being awake and alert typically means she may be a candidate for extubation, or at least for evaluation. So, extubation means the removal of the breathing tube. That is the very first question, especially if someone is awake.

But then, it comes down to evaluating ventilator settings. It comes down to evaluating arterial blood gases. It comes down to evaluating medications she’s on. It comes down to evaluating chest X-rays, for example. It comes down to evaluating the neurological condition in much detail. It comes down to evaluating ventilator settings and the readiness for extubation.

As a matter of fact, I have written an article and made a video about, “How to wean a critically ill patient off the breathing tube and the ventilator?” and I highly recommend you look at that article and video because there’s a step by step guide how that can be achieved.

Once again, the biggest challenge for families in intensive care is simply that they don’t know what they don’t know. They don’t know what to look for. They don’t know what questions to ask. They don’t know their rights, and they don’t know how to manage doctors and nurses in intensive care. That is exactly what Ina is dealing with here. She doesn’t know what she doesn’t know.

So, next, why is your grandmother restrained? Restraints are often used to prevent patients from removing medical devices, but prolonged restraints without clear communication or alternative care plans can be unethical and also illegal. Request a care conference or speak with the in-charge nurse, with the bedside nurse, with the ICU consultant, and find out what’s happening.

What is the plan for next steps? How can she be weaned off the ventilator and the breathing tube? How can she be extubated? Ask, what are the criteria for extubation? Are there complications preventing it, like weak lungs, infection, airway issues, sedation, opiates that’s needed? What are the timelines? Once again, have a look at my article that are linked towards, “How to wean a critically ill patient off the breathing tube and the ventilator?”

Next, get advocacy. You or another healthcare proxy for your grandma can formally request to get an advocate involved like we are here at intensivecarehotline.com. We are the world leading experts and advocacy organization for families in intensive care. Request a meeting with the intensive care team and ourselves, and then we can ask all the questions that you haven’t even considered asking but must be asked when you have a loved one critically ill in intensive care, especially in a situation like that, especially if you feel like her care isn’t progressing as you wish.

So, I hope that helps. Because if your grandmother can’t be weaned off the ventilator and the breathing tube, she’ll most likely end up with a tracheostomy and you don’t want that. You want her to be breathing independently; you don’t want her to be restrained. There could be some psychological damage coming from that, some trauma coming from that, and you want her off the ventilator breathing independently.

I have worked in critical care nursing for 25 years in three different countries, where I worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years in critical care. I can very confidently say that we have saved many lives

for our clients in intensive care. You can verify that on our intensivecarehotline.com testimonial section, and you can verify it at intensivecarehotline.com podcast section where we have done client interviews.

Because our advice is absolutely life changing, because we have helped so many families in intensive care to save their loved ones’ lives or improve their conditions by making sure our clients improve their lives instantly, by making informed decisions, having peace of mind, control, power, and influence, making sure their loved ones get the best care and treatment always.

That’s why you can join a growing number of clients and members that we have helped over the many years, hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of members and clients we’ve helped over the years to once again improve their lives instantly, making sure they can make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, influence, making sure their loved ones get the best care and treatment always.

That’s why I do one on one consulting and advocacy over the phone, Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. I talk to you and your families directly. I handhold you through this once in a lifetime situation that you can’t afford to get wrong. I’ll set you up with tools, strategies so that your loved one always gets best care and treatment. I also talk to doctors and nurses directly with you or on your behalf. When I talk to doctors and nurses directly. I also ask all the questions that you haven’t even considered asking, but must be asked when you have a loved one critically ill in intensive care.

I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams.

We also do medical record reviews  in real time so that you can get a second opinion in real time. We also do medical record reviews after intensive care if you have unanswered questions, if you need closure, or if you are suspecting medical negligence.

We also have a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care. You can become a member if you go to intensivecarehotline.com, if you click on the membership link, or if you go to intensivecaresupport.org directly. In the membership, you have access to me and my team, 24 hours a day, in the membership area and via email, and we answer all questions intensive care related. In the membership, you also have exclusive access to 21 videos and 21 e-books that only are exclusively accessible to our members. All of that will help you to make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power and influence, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment always.

All of that you get at intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website or simply send us an email to [email protected] with your questions.

If you like my videos, subscribe to YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care. Click the like button, click the notification bell, share the video with your friends and families and comment below what you want to see next, what questions and insights you have.

I also do a weekly YouTube live where I answer your questions live on a show. You will get notification for the YouTube live if you are a subscriber to my YouTube channel, or if you are a subscriber to my intensivecarehotline.com email newsletter at intensivecarehotline.com.

Thank you so much for watching.

This is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com, and I will talk to you in a few days.

Take care for now.

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