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Friday, April 1, 2011

Oral Exam: 99.9 % Failure Rate Among ICU Nurses



Question 1. What is pictured in image 1?

Image 1



Question 2. What is it used for?

If you answered “Bite Block” you must be an ICU nurse.

 I cannot count how many times nurses have tried to use the “oropharyngeal airway” as a bite block and complain about how the patient is fighting the tube & airway, gagging, and fighting the ventilator.
The next step, they usually heavily sedate or paralyze the patient.

An oropharyngeal airway is to help keep the airway patent (open) & should not be used in the conscious patient with a gag reflex.

Now this is a bite block (image 2), which can be used for that patient biting on an  E.T. tube. 


Image 2 "Bite Block"