What to do if you have to stay overnight in the hospital?

gailzee · Post by **gailzee** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 7:34 pm

Any thoughts on this? No hosp. will be resp. for your equipment, treatment, NOTHING.

wading thru the muck! · Post by **wading thru the muck!** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 7:39 pm

Gailzee,

Take all your equipment along. Let them know ahead of time about the cpap. They should ask you when you do your pre-admit. Ask them about security when you're out of your room if you're concerned.

chrisp · Post by **chrisp** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 7:43 pm

Acording to some federal regulations you MUST have your cpap checked by hospital medical equipment staff before you can use it. I'll post a link if I can.

http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/in ... Policy0055

Cheers,

Chris

christinequilts · Post by **christinequilts** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 7:54 pm

I had a nearly 2 week unplanned hospitaliztion over the holidays. The first night I used their machine- they have RT to set it up if your doctor orders it. After that I did use my own but that is partly due to me having severe central sleep apnea that is not well controlled and the hospital had the brand of BiPAP ST I do the worst with. The RT made a fuss about me using my own equipment at first but then he went and talked to his supervisor and everything was fine.

My advice...bring your own if you can- its much more comfortable then the disposible masks they use...and don't forget your heated humidifier.

AUTOMATIC · Post by **AUTOMATIC** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 11:41 am

Call ahead and ask the respiratory department head what their policy is.
The checking of personal equipment by hospital is SOP. They will tag it with date and affirmation that all is insinc. Bringing your own is my suggestion. However, if you have a chance to try out new equipment and get new disposable items i.e. mask,hose,filters then go for it...AUTOMATIC

IllinoisRRT · Post by **IllinoisRRT** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 5:29 pm

When I worked at the hospital as an RT, we LOVED It if a patient brought their own equipment, and we did not have to check it or anything. In fact, if there was no oxygen bled into it, a lot of times we would not even know the pt was there. I say take your own (if you have to call the hospital first to find out what their policy is, fine). More often than not, if we set a pt up on our machine because they forgot theirs, they did not like ours and would go without. Often we would have spouses traveling back home to get their CPAP. And at least in our hospital, the masks were VERY cheap and generic, so getting a comfortable mask was very unlikely.

Dave Hargett · Post by **Dave Hargett** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 12:42 am

When you have a planned admission, get your doctor who is admitting you to write orders that you are to use your own CPAP equipment. You'll still need to get it "inspected", but often that just means someone looks at the equipment and then plugs it in and turns it on. If it doesn't blow up, it's safe. Seriously, that's about all they did two times I've been in the hospital. The time I was in ICU they may have done a little more; I was still out!

Of course, this may mean you have to "teach" your physician or specialist about sleep apnea as well. I had to train my cardiologist, but he learned quickly.

For any unscheduled admission, have a family member bring your equipment along if and when they can. You're more familiar with it and that will make it easier for you to use it in the hospital.

One other suggestion: make sure your spouse, bed partner or other family member knows how to hook up the equipment, put water in the humidifier, fix the mask and headgear and how to put it on you. As a patient (who may be unconscious or unable to use your hands to help) you may not be able to give directions to hospital staff or to handle it for yourself. Unfortunately many nurses don't have training or knowledge and respiratory staff in hospitals without sleep centers may not be that knowledgeable either. I'm not slamming anyone in the profession - it's just the facts of life.

Dave