Preventing Accidental Deaths of Ventilator-Dependent Patients Part 2

1. Who Is the Ventilator-Dependent Child Being Cared for at Home?

The qualifications for a pediatric home care nurse exceed standard pediatric nursing skills. This chapter covers the knowledge and skills that a home care nurse will need to be able to navigate the three most common diagnoses, disorders, and syndromes that cause these children to require support by mechanical ventilation across years.

2. Let Me Introduce You to Z

A guest speaker, Z, will tell his own story about his ventilator dependence that kept him in the hospital ICU for his first four years of life. He will discuss his adoption and his care by pediatric home care nurses for 25 years and will offer words of wisdom for those nurses who plan to care for ventilator-dependent children at home.

3. It Takes an Exceptional Nurse

For the home care nurse to assume safe, autonomous care of a ventilator-dependent child, special skill training is required. Initial training needs to be supported by ongoing education, especially when the pediatric patient has a progressive disease that will present new challenges and require additional nursing skills. Pediatric home care nurses are responsible for educating family caregivers about the latest advances in science and about new, improved techniques. This chapter will outline the skills necessary to adequately prepare the home care nurse to provide safe, holistic are to these children and their families.