Ms Natalie Knight, Dr Jane Bickford
Biography:
Natalie is a senior speech pathologist with over 12 years of experience in acute care. She is committed to enhancing the healthcare experience and outcomes for patients with tracheostomies in acute care settings. Early in her research career, she is excited to apply her clinical expertise to the research field, aiming to drive meaningful improvements in practice and influence positive change
Abstract:
Background:
A tracheostomy involves the insertion of a tube through a surgical opening in the neck, allowing patients who require an artificial airway to breathe using invasive mechanical ventilation. In doing so, this results in a short – long term period of voicelessness.
An inability to communicate is one of the most difficult challenges patients with a tracheostomy in the intensive care unit (ICU) face. Speech Pathologists have a key role in re-establishing communication function for patients with a tracheostomy, however due to under resourcing, we were not able to consistently provide early and regular input to these patients in the ICU.
Method:
To increase the success of future change processes, this study aimed to increase our knowledge of the local community’s experience by better understanding their perspectives and lived experiences of voicelessness. We conducted semi-structured interviews with nine patients who received a tracheostomy whilst in a large metropolitan hospital in South Australia and undertook thematic analysis to identify themes from the data.
Results:
The themes were categorised into six domains: impact of voicelessness, voice restoration, family role and support, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), care staff and speech pathology. The findings support the need for increased speech pathology resources to improve the patients’ health care experience, improve their quality of life and provide education to healthcare staff.
Conclusion:
These data have provided a foundation for further research aimed at evaluating the impacts of a more intensive speech pathology service model for patients with tracheostomy located in an ICU.