Hospital rules and cpap

Hi folks. I was hospitalized about 2 years ago . I live in NYC and the hospital i went to was notified about my OSA by me. I had brought my Resmed APAP with me for the stay and once i was admitted they actually told me that i couldnt use my machine and taht i had to use theirs. I didnt think much about it at the time but I was basically forced to use there machines I guess for liability purposes etc. The brought in this huge monstrositous machine (yeah it was on wheels and as big as a 19 inch tv) and told me that that was the machine i had to use while there. I was set as a str8 CPAP by the respiratory therapist and it didnt let me sleep like my RESMED does. I actuall had to talk them into letting me use my own mask while i was there because i couldnt breathe with the mask they gave me. Is this standard proceedure in all states? Or have some of you had hosptal stays where you were allowed to use your own equipment? Thanks

Thank you Ruby for your response. The problem here in the bronx was that my hospital basically flat out refused to allow me to use my own equipment. I had notified them before my stay that I had OSA and that i had my own machine. Once i brought my machine to the hospital the respiratory therapists on staff approached me and asked me what my prescription was. The next thing i knew they cam into my room with their own hospital equipment CPAP. I was told that due to this hospitals regualtions (Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx) that i would "have to" use thier equipment and not mine. I didnt see what the big deal was but they didnt even give me the option of having the machine looked over or anything. A supervisor actually called me on the phone and told me that no outside equipment may be used at all while staying at thier facility. I was only allowed to keep my mask after i tried their horrible masks. I dont know if that was that hospitals way of billing my insurance more for the stay(for the rental of thier equipment vs me using my own). What I do know is that I didnt appreciate it at all because I use APAP and they set me up with a straight CPAP. I ws just curious if this was just my hospital stay that was like this or if others were also basically forced into using the hospital equipment. The supervisor on the phone eluded to the fact that while i was in thier care that they were responsible for me ans as such they had the right to make me use "only " thier equipment. Anyone else every go thru this???

Many to most of the hospitals in the state next to you do not allow patient-owned medical equipment in their facilities. While many patients may take meticulous care of their equipment, not all do, with such oversights as allowing water to flow back into the circuitry, filters to become clogged and machines overheat, mice to build nests in the humidifier chamber, etc. generating fear of the consequences of a hospital fire.

http://www.gendisasters.com/data1/ct/fi ... ec1961.htm

BTW, Maimonides Medical Center in an upscale section of your neck of the woods (Brooklyn) had a fire started by a faulty heater-humidifier in 1993.

Muffy

bigblacklexus wrote:The brought in this huge monstrositous machine (yeah it was on wheels and as big as a 19 inch tv) and told me that that was the machine i had to use while there.

BTW, that sounds like the Respironics BiPAP Vision, the only machine capable of providing true Proportional Assist Ventilation.

If only you had told me...

Muffy

Every Hospital will have their own policies regarding the use of patient owned equipment. In every case, any equipment used in a patient room must be checked by Biomedical or Clinical Engineering. This is a requirement of the NFPA. Additionally, Nursing staff must be inserviced in the operation of any equipment that will be used to care for a patient. The Hospital may or may not accept your showing staff how the machine is set up and operated as an acceptable inservice. Additionally, we live in such a litigious society that the liability issues surrounding patient using their own equipment is not something that the hospitals want to deal with. It is sad, but true, that many facilities do not have any APAP's available. Many do not look at this as a medically necessary treatment option and believe that CPAP or BiPAP will cover all cases. Almost all facilities will have a machine available to cover this (CPAP/BiPAP), albeit in a much larger package than we are used to in our home machines.

bigblacklexus,

I am going to the hospital for knee replacement next week and the pre-admit nurse told me to bring my apap with me. I had my other knee done at the same hospital two years ago. I used my apap then. I did show the nursing staff how the apap worked. I also took time before we went to the hospital to show my wife how to setup and operate the apap. The cpap policy probably varies from hospital to hospital.

I did try my apap for a few nights without the humidifier to see if I could get by without it. That worked so I don't plan to take the humidifier to the hospital. I will only be in the hospital for three nights.

Jeeper

My experience was when I was admitted to the hospital (I went to the er first and they decided I needed to stay), I asked one of my kids to bring my machine and mask. They gladly did. I informed the floor nurse that I had sleep apnea and needed to use my apap. Said it wasn't a problem -- but they would have to get the doctor to okay it first. Doctor okayed it. I set the machine up and no one looked at it or appeared to give it a second thought. That night when I masked up and was going to sleep a nurse was making the rounds and made the comment that I had the quietest machine she had ever encountered. I was in the hopital for a couple of nights.

bigblacklexus,

You did say this was 2 years ago, things may have changed there - is there a reason you're worrying about this now?

I ended up in the hospital in early June. My first stop was the specialist office - I put on the form that I had apnea - the doctor asked several questions about my treatment and then filled out admit papers.

My husband arrived with my CPAP and helped me get it set up, the nurse came in and notice how it was hard for me to reach and brought in a "stand" to make turning it off easier. About a hour later someone who identified herself as being from respiratory therapy came in and said she needed to inspect my CPAP. She checked the humidifier chamber (I assume looking for leaks), checked the cords - then she asked me if I knew what my settings were, wrote everything on a tag that she attached to the machine.

In pre-op the anesthesiologist verified that my CPAP was up and setup in my room and assured me that they would not be taking me off the ventilator until they were ready to wake me up.

Overall my expierance was good. My only problem being that my husband didn't think to bring distilled water and after surgery my throat was killing me so I asked for some for the humidifier. Although the charge nurse expressed that she understood why I wouldn't put tap water in my machine - getting something acceptable was a challenge.

I had no idea rules were so different.

In November, Dh went to ER with extreme chest pain. He told them they used a cpap, and they asked him me to bring his. That I know of, nobody cared anything else about it. In fact, if I recall they preferred him to use his rather than one of theirs. Makes sense to me, with so many germs that going around that don't always get killed between patients, I am much more comfortable with him using his than another one.

Jean

redstar wrote:I had no idea rules were so different.

In November, Dh went to ER with extreme chest pain. He told them they used a cpap, and they asked him me to bring his. That I know of, nobody cared anything else about it. In fact, if I recall they preferred him to use his rather than one of theirs. Makes sense to me, with so many germs that going around that don't always get killed between patients, I am much more comfortable with him using his than another one.

Jean

Maybe it's a temporary measure due to the Swine Flu...

Thanks you all for your input. To answer the question as to why I am concerned about this 2 years after it happened .....well its because I have to have surgery again in the months coming up. I just was trying to get an idea if this is something that is a common practice in most hospital. Yes i didnt like using there equipment for many reasons. The first thing is the whole idea of infections . i dont know if it is such a great idea to be forced into using a cpap that many others have used. True we all have done this when we took a sleep study so maybe this concern isnt warranted on my part. Secondly they gave me no APAP just str8 CPAP and for me the therapy is not sufficent to stop my apneas (although I realize str8 CPAP works well for some). Thirdly they even tried to make me wear there horrible masks which is where i drew the line. .One thing that i did notice is that once the machine was moved into my room not one nurse new how to even turn the thing off. I had watched what the respiratory therapist did in setting it up so I new how to turn it off but the nursing staff basically kept telling me "dont touch it" lol. I guess they thought that i would throw off the settings some how by simply turn the off switch off SMH. It would be hilarious if this wasnt such a serious situation. It seem to me that the respiratory therapist pass little or no information on to the nursing staff or doctors regarding knowledge of how to use even thier own in house equipment. Sad and scary and in my opinion highly unnecceassary because i felt i should have been allowed to bring my own equipment. I dont doubt that some people dont take care of thier machines and that some humidifiers have caused fires in the past. I am willing to bet that isnt the norm at all though. They provided me with a huge machine ( loud) with no humidifier and that made my stay a sleepless one as i constantly had a dry nose and the therapy was totally counter productive. Oh welI all i can say to those of you who have hospital stays where you were allowed to bring your own machine is be greatfull that you were....for many reasons

I was in the hospital for 5 days in May, and my surgeon actually directed me to bring my own equipment with me. When I got to the hospital's admitting office, they took the machine to have their staff check it out, and when I got to my room after surgery they had it all set up and ready to go. I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. Perhaps you can discuss your concerns with your doctor ahead of time and see if there is a choice of hospitals. Good luck!

I had a heart attack and bypass surgery in September 08. The respiratory doctor sent my wife home to get my machine and mask as soon as they pulled the tube. The only restriction he had was that I had to use a nasal mask. No full face masks and I was mouth leaking fairly bad at that time. They never checked out the machine. Had my wife set it up the way I used it. Only problem I had was from one nurse. My wife would put it on every time I dozed off and the nurse told her she was being obsessive and not to put it on except when I went to sleep for the night. Doctor changed that order. I slept a lot during that time!!

Jerry