 Hi guys, and welcome back to this video. Let's talk about talking, let's talk about talking to intubated patients. A couple of weeks ago, I was getting an intubated patient who was sedated and whatnot cleaned up and a doctor walked into the room and I was like explaining things to the patient, okay, you know, we're gonna turn you on your left side. All right, you're gonna feel me clean you, blah, blah. And the physician, when he walked in, he goes, wow, you talked to your intubated patients. He's like, that's wonderful to see. And in my head, I was kind of like, doesn't everyone? But then the fact that he said it, I guess not. So I thought, let's talk about this and kind of some of the things that I like to say and just if this is not an area that you're familiar with, let's chat. So I am an ICU nurse. I've been an ICU nurse for almost four years, I believe. And so I feel like intubated patients, like they're my jam, I just, like most of my patients are intubated. And I like to talk to them just as if I was talking to a patient who could talk back to me. If you've taken care of an intubated patient before, there's a big range of what they may or may not understand. Their sedation level, I've had patients who are intubated and wide awake and writing to me. And I've had patients who are like a wrasse of negative four, negative five, paralyzed, super sedated. And like, obviously they're not gonna be able to communicate back. I like to still talk to my patients regardless of whatever their sedation level is, as if they can hear me and understand me. I've never personally been intubated or in the ICU, but I can only imagine that if you were restrained with a breathing tube down your throat in having some sedation and you've got people who are turning you, boosting you, giving you a shot, injecting things down your tube, being right there in your face, shining a light in your eyes to check your pupils, how scary that can be. And you just never know how much someone understands. Even if they have sedation, a lot of times patients won't really remember what's going on, but I have had patients that remember a lot of what's going on. For example, I had a patient probably two years ago who was still on some sedation, but was able to communicate with me when I asked questions with yes or no. And he was just seemed very, very anxious and I was trying to figure out what he needed, basing off of yes and no questions because he couldn't write. And finally we figured out that he wanted me to call his wife, he was scared. And even though this patient was still on some sedation that should have made him forget, weeks later the patient came back to the ICU walking and thanked me for trying to figure out what he was trying to say and calling his wife because he was just super scared and anxious. And it's kind of sad that sometimes as nurses, we don't really go that extra bit to try and figure out what our intubated patients want because it can be a very trialing thing. But anyways, I'm getting off of off topic here. Talking to intubated patients. Really, really try to talk to your intubated patients as if they are not sedated, as if they understand everything you say. It also helps families when you're saying things to the patient like, oh, okay, I'm gonna turn your head a little bit here. You're gonna feel me cleaning your mouth. I know you don't really like it but it's important because it prevents pneumonia when you have a breathing tube and just really explain things and elaborate and talk to them as if they're a human being because you can only imagine how scared someone would be if they wake up and they're being gagged by a tube, they're restrained down to a bed. Sounds like we're getting into either a really crazy movie or a horror movie. This is something that may not feel very natural to you at first and that's okay. With time and practice, it'll get easier. Trust me, it'll be much easier if you just practice talking to your patients and just as if you would talk to someone who is mentally handicapped even if they couldn't talk to you back. Same thing with intubated patients. If you get anything from this video, I hope that you just get out of it that it's important to talk to your patients, especially if they're intubated and don't be scared. And if you are scared, it's okay. It'll get easier and just practice. If you guys are needing more help with ICU related topics, remember that I have a course that I helped write with Katie Cleaver called Breakthrough ICU. The link is always in the description box below. Also make sure you're subscribed to my email list because I sent out lots of helpful emails in regards to a lot of these different topics. So yeah, I'll see you guys in my next video and I hope you enjoyed. Bye.