The nurse must suction a child with a tracheostomy. Interventions should include:

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Suctioning should require not longer than 5 seconds per pass. Otherwise the airway may be occluded for too long. If the child is able to cough up secretions,suctioning may not be indicated. The catheter should have a diameter one-half the size of the tracheostomy tube. If it is too large,it might block the child's airway. The child is allowed to rest for 30 to 60 seconds after each aspiration to allow oxygen tension to return to normal. Then the process is repeated until the trachea is clear.

The Nurse Must Suction a Child with a Tracheostomy