Читать книгу Fundamentals of Pharmacology - Группа авторов - Страница 26

Oxygen is a medical gas and as such should be treated as a medicine.

Home oxygen therapy is commonly used in care homes. It involves breathing oxygen mixed with air from a cylinder or machine. It is often prescribed for those people who have respiratory conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that can result in low oxygen levels in the blood. Home oxygen therapy can be given via:

 nasal cannulae

 face mask

 tracheostomy mask.

The oxygen is delivered via tubing or mask from an oxygen cylinder, an oxygen concentrator or a ventilator.

Oxygen is prescribed on a home oxygen order form. The form contains details of how the oxygen is to be used. The prescriber sends the home oxygen order form to the oxygen supplier who then arranges delivery.

Staff at the care home should tell the person prescribing the oxygen about any changes in a person's clinical condition; this then allows the prescriber to amend and organise for a new home oxygen order form, if required.

The person's care plan should include information about home oxygen therapy. This should include who it is who will be monitoring the person who is using the oxygen.

The care plan (documentation) should also address the administration of oxygen. This has to include flow rate, frequency and duration of use; the prescriber's details should also be included. Each time staff administer oxygen, these details should be checked to ensure that the oxygen is being administered correctly.

If the person is self‐administering the oxygen, a risk assessment has to be carried out (individual risk assessments should include information about the potential dangers of having and using oxygen in the care home). A copy of the risk assessment should be kept in the person's care plan.

Local policy and procedure must be adhered to at all times. The tubing and masks must be clean and in good condition and replaced when needed. Tubing and masks must only be used for the person the oxygen was prescribed for.

Staff have to be trained and deemed competent to manage home oxygen therapy.

As with all medications, oxygen cylinders have an expiry date. The expiry date has to be checked to ensure that out‐of‐date cylinders are not used.

If equipment is no longer in use or it is out of date, it should be returned to the oxygen supplier.