Arthur Ashe's Start Where You Are

Arthur Ashe has said “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” For me, it’s a reminder that if you get lost or stuck in what you’re doing, you can always fall back on the basic building blocks of the plan and continue from there. In patient care, ABCs are our building blocks. As long as you secure the Airway, the Breathing, and the Circulation, then everything else can be addressed accordingly through a similar prioritization system. With that in mind, the article I have at hand is focused on research in regards to those ABCs.
In opening, the author compares the differences in artificial airway maintenance between the early days of her career, and the present day. She explains that endotracheal tubes used to use low-volume, …show more content…
As her experience has taught her, continuous research allows a chance to find new, and likely better ways of providing patient care safer, and in more efficient ways. She became a researcher herself, and dedicated her work to bettering critical care practices, and reducing potential harm to patients. It was around the time when the first closed suction catheters came out, and they were met with skepticism out of fear for possible increased risk for infection and VAP. Because the product was so new it was perfect for a research subject, which the author took on as her challenge. The result of the trial showed no increased risk for infection after all, and became a widely used device. After that, the author’s work expanded into multiple product evaluations, creating an evidence based database on what works, what needs improvement, and what is absolutely wrong for patient care. Her main focus always remained on products that addressed the critical ABCs. One of the widest studies collected data from across the United States, and it was called Suctioning Techniques and Airway Management Practices. The study revealed that the policies in regards to the procedures varied tremendously across the nation. The major fining was that the pressure the endotracheal tube’s cuff would drop spontaneously over time, frequent monitoring, measurement, and adjustment to the appropriate level greatly decreased the risk for VAP. The problem with that discovery was that the required monitoring would greatly affect the nursing performance, because of the copious amounts of time it would take to complete the task effectively. That led to a new research to find new, accurate monitoring technology to maintain the cuff pressure and allow nurses to focus on all their other critical duties. It was a long and difficult