The nurse must suction a 6-month-old infant with a tracheostomy.What intervention should be included?
A) Encourage the child to cough to raise the secretions before suctioning.
B) Perform each pass of the suction catheter for no longer than 5 seconds.
C) Allow the child to rest after every five times the suction catheter is passed.
D) Select a catheter with a diameter three quarters of the diameter of the tracheostomy tube.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Suctioning should require no longer than 5 seconds per pass.Otherwise,the airway may be occluded for too long.An infant would be unable to cooperate with instructions to cough up secretions.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 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 Nurse Must Suction a 6-Month-Old Infant with a Tracheostomy