Wash your hands and listen to the patients lungs sounds. Do this before you start suctioning to make sure that suctioning is necessary.Check your patients oxygen saturation level as well.
Connect the suction tubing to a source of suction. Perform hand hygiene and set up your sterile tracheostomy suctioning kit next to your patient. Put on a face mask and don your sterile gloves. Pour some sterile water into the sterile basin in the kit.
Maintain one sterile hand at all times. Pick up the sterile suction catheter with your sterile hand, then the suction tubing with your non sterile hand and connect the the two.
Test your suctioning equipment. Turn on the source of suction and suction some water from the basin of water you poured previously. Give your client oxygen before suctioning him. Then insert the suction tubing into your patients tracheostomy with out applying suction.
Stop advancing the suction tubing once you meet resistance and pull back about one centimeter. Now apply suction for about 10 to 15 seconds, then stop the suctioning then withdraw and rinse the suction tubing.Do this no more than 3 times then stop.
Turn of the source of suction , then gather and discard your suctioning supplies. Provide your patient with more oxygen and then listen to his lung sounds to see if the suctioning had the desired effect which is to clear the airways of secretions.