This information will help you care for your chest tube and Pneumostat Chest Drain Valve after you’re discharged (released) from the hospital. Show
About Your Chest Tube and PneumostatYour chest tube is a flexible tube that’s placed between your ribs, into your pleural space. Your plural space is the space between the inner and outer linings of your lungs. A Pneumostat is a one-way valve that connects to your chest tube (see Figure 1). Your chest tube and Pneumostat let extra air, extra fluid, or both out of your chest. This lets your lung expand fully. Figure 1. Chest tube and Pneumostat Chest Drain Valve How long you’ll have your chest tube and Pneumostat depends on your surgery. It also depends on the amount of drainage you’re having. Everyone’s drainage is different. Some people drain a lot, some only a little. You may be discharged from the hospital with your chest tube and Pneumostat if you still have fluid drainage or your lung is still leaking air after your surgery. Back to topCaring for Your Chest TubeYour chest tube will be covered with a bandage.
Your chest tube may irritate your chest wall, causing some pain. Your healthcare provider may give you a prescription for a pain medication you can take to help with the pain. If the medication doesn’t ease your pain, call your healthcare provider’s office. How to change your chest tube bandage
Figure 2. Cutting the gauze Figure 3. Placing the gauze pads around your chest tube
Instructions for showeringYou can take showers, but make sure you keep your chest tube bandage dry.
Don’t take a bath, use a hot tub, go swimming, or submerge yourself in water (go under water) while your chest tube is in place. If you submerge yourself in water by accident, call your healthcare provider’s office. How to use an AquaGuard waterproof dressingFollow these instructions to put an AquaGuard waterproof dressing over your chest tube bandage before you shower. Make sure the AquaGuard sticks to your skin, not your bandage.
To take the AquaGuard off, start at the top left or right corner and gently peel the AquaGuard down. Try to peel it in the same direction your hair is growing. Make sure you don’t pull on your chest tube bandage or chest tube. Emptying Your Pneumostat Chest Drain ValveThe first few days after your surgery, the fluid draining from your chest may be dark red. This is common. As you heal, it may look pink or pale yellow. If fluid is draining from your chest, it will flow through your chest tube and into your Pneumostat’s collection chamber. The collection chamber can hold up to 30 milliliters (mL) of fluid. Empty it before it fills up to the 30 mL mark, so it doesn’t overflow (see Figure 5). How often you need to empty it depends on how much fluid is draining from your chest. Everyone’s drainage is different. Your nurse will tell you what to expect before you leave the hospital. Figure 5. 30 mL mark on the Pneumostat Chest Drain Valve Follow these steps to empty your Pneumostat. Your nurse will give you supplies when you leave the hospital. Figure 6. Twisting the syringe onto
Call your healthcare provider’s office if more fluid is draining from your chest tube than usual. Back to topFixing a Disconnected or Leaking PneumostatYour Pneumostat should be connected to your chest tube at all times. If it comes off your chest tube, follow these steps to reconnect it right away, then call your healthcare provider’s office.
If your Pneumostat is leaking, make sure the connections are tight. If it keeps leaking, call your healthcare provider’s office. Back to topWhen to Call Your Healthcare ProviderCall your healthcare provider if:
Which immediate action does the nurse take when discovering that a patient's chest tube is disconnected?If you're walking with your patient and the chest tube becomes dislodged where it connects to the drainage tubing, immediately close off the tubing to air with your gloved hand by crimping it or using a clamp, if readily available. Or place the end of the tube in a bottle of sterile water, creating a water seal.
Which nursing action is of highest priority when a client's chest tube has accidentally dislodged?Dislodgement or Disconnection
If the chest tube accidentally falls out, instruct the patient to perform the Valsalva maneuver. At end-expiration immediately cover the insertion site with vaseline gauze (if indicated by your hospital), a dry sterile dressing, and occlusive tape (Pruitt, 2008).
When a chest tube is being removed the nurse should instruct the client to?The nurse is assisting a health care provider with the removal of a chest tube. The nurse should instruct the client to take which action? 4. Rationale-When the chest tube is removed, the client is asked to perform the Valsalva maneuver (take a deep breath, exhale, and bear down).
Which should the nurse do when caring for a client with a chest tube attached to a chest drainage system?When a chest tube becomes separated from the drainage device, the nurse should first put on gloves, open a sterile bottle of normal saline or water, and insert the chest tube into the bottle without contaminating the chest tube. This creates a water seal until a new drainage unit can be attached.
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