He Infanta Elena Hospital has launched a new training course eminently practical on the management of the hospitalized patient with respiratory cannula. The fundamental objective has been to offer an updated look on the special care required by patients who have undergone a laryngectomy as a result of cancer or a tracheostomy. These types of interventions require specific care both in the hospital environment when they are admitted, and in outpatient clinics when they have already been discharged for follow-up.
This is the second edition of the same, which arises at the initiative of the nursing staff of the Otorhinolaryngology Service of the Infanta Elena Hospital, and aimed at all professionals in the nursing field who want to refresh their knowledge about the care that these types of patients should receive , who may well be admitted due to problems related to the cannula or due to a different pathology, but which require adequate attention.
The course has wanted to offer a broad perspective on this health problem, to raise in a multidisciplinary way all the questions related to the care of these patients and to make known, in a practical way, those measures to be taken in each of the cases. In this way, issues such as the use of each of the cannulas according to the type of intervention and patient, nutritional assessment and feeding guidelines of these patients, nursing management in the postoperative period or cleaning and care of the cannula.
The Association of Laryngectomized Patients of Huelva (APLH) has once again participated, thus incorporating the opinion and feelings of those affected, the emotions and fears that the patient is going through at that time and, therefore, the importance of this care and humanization when providing them by the staff. In addition, they have taken the opportunity to offer a brief description of the services that the Association provides to people who find themselves in this situation, such as reception, advice and learning to speak, essential for a return to normal life.
In this way, the program of the course has begun with the intervention of the head of the ENT Service of the Infanta Elena Hospital, Ventura Camino, who has presented the basic aspects of both interventions, the pathologies for which it is indicated, as well as the treatment doctor and the most commonly used cannulas according to the type of patient and their needs.
He was followed by the Dietetics and Nutrition nurse, Estela Gómez, who has focused on the assessment of the patient’s nutritional status, as well as the necessary care for the care, guidelines and dosage of the nasogastric tube. The nursing supervisor of the ENT Service, Manuel Antero, has been in charge of updating the general care of the patient before and after the intervention, as well as the preparation of a specific care plan, among other issues of interest.
The auxiliary nursing care technician, Esther Monje, has informed, in a very practical way, about the necessary measures to proceed with the cleaning, disinfection and maintenance of the cannulas and the essential precautions to be taken into account in this process.
Finally, Gumersindo Salas, president of APLH and Carmen Rodríguez, responsible for Citizen Participation of the Hospital, have been responsible for informing about the importance, for the recovery of the person, of peer education in these processes and the opportunity to have the support of an expert patient from the Association who has learned to speak again and can serve as a guide and reference in the most difficult moments.
This course responds to an express request, both from professionals in Nursing of the Hospital as of the Patient Association itself, and is part of the training and citizen participation and humanization plans that the Infanta Elena Hospital has been developing in recent years, aimed at offering quality and humanized care, with the sole objective to improve the level of its population, which includes the Coast and the County of Huelva.
