Oxygen Therapy

Abstract

instruction of their student nurses, not only in the principles underlying the proper administration of oxygen but in the technic of manipulation of the various types of tents. The medical staff is, of course, entirely responsible for deciding whether oxygen therapy should be used. In the larger hospitals some member of the staff usually will take an active interest in the general supervision of oxygen therapy. He may be aided by technicians who analyze, as a routine, the tent air four or five times daily, who are called when the tent is applied, who remain until the proper concentration is developed, and who keep the apparatus in order. In smaller institutions, the entire responsibility of applying the oxygen tent, of determination of the oxygen and carbon dioxid concentration, and of caring for the apparatus, often will devolve on the superintendent of nurses and her supervisors. It is important to determine at frequent intervals the concentration of oxygen and carbon dioxid in the tent in order to be sure that the patient is obtaining the proper concentration and this, moreover, is the only way that oxygen can be administered with any degree of economy. To prevent waste of oxygen the mattress must be covered with rubber sheeting, and the tent hood carefully, smoothly, and efficiently tucked in around the patient and mattress, as described in detail by Miss Lyla Olson in the March American Journal of Nursing. Also, the carbon dioxid (C02) given off by the patient must be removed by soda lime instead of by using an excess of oxygen to wash it out. Restless patients of course are kept properly tucked in with more difficulty, but this usually can be done by an efficient nurse if she is keeping track of the concentration of oxygen in the tent.