Effective Communication Strategies for Tracheostomy Patients

Abstract

Week Two Tracheostomy Pre-Briefing Questions How can a patient and nurse effectively interact and communicate when that patient has a tracheostomy? Tracheostomy being a surgical procedure that creates an opening at the front of the neck for direct access to trachea implies that the patient ability to verbal communication remains hampered. For this reason, the nurse must practice other forms of communicating to ensure effective communication and interaction with the patient. For instance with application of non-verbal communication, the patient and nurse can understand each other through gestures, head nods, facial expressions among other symbolic talks remains relevant. However, other than non-verbal communication, the nurse can also employ written communication where he or she asks questions and respond to patients questions through written form. Either the choice of communication, the need to develop lip-reading skills remains of great relevance to nurses taking care of tracheostomies patients. What are three nursing interventions when treating someone with MRSA? First the need to ensure isolation and contact transmission precautions is essential. It is important for the nurse to ensure that MRSA patients are kept in isolation to prevent that infection from spreading to other patients within the facility. Hand hygiene is also an important intervention that MRSA patients require. It is important for nurses to perform hand hygiene by using plenty of water and soap or alcohol gel accordingly as well as encouraging patients to keep their nails clean and short to avoid further transmissions. It is also imperative to encourage those visiting the patients to maintain hand hygiene through decontaminating their hands before and after visiting MRSA patients. What are the nutritional challenges for patients with a tracheostomy? Tracheostomy subjects the patient to tube-eating which implies that the patient does not enjoy normal feeding which may spell diverse...