How to Teach About Chest Tubes

Teaching about chest tubes starts with recognizing your intended audience and creating appropriate information for their learning needs, such as providing patient education for the family of someone with a chest tube. Once you’ve determined your audience, gather materials to support the information you want to provide, such as handouts or videos. Chest tube education should be provided by someone who is experienced with their use and care and has the ability to instruct effectively on the topic.

Things You'll Need

• Chest tube
• Collection unit
• Handouts
• Videos

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Instructions

• 1

  Create an outline that states the topics you wish to cover when teaching about chest tubes, such as why a chest tube is used, how it is inserted and how to care for it. Refer to the outline as you conduct your lesson.

• 2

  Provide handouts about chest tubes, such as printouts, booklets or information packets that cover the information you wish to present. Tailor the handout information to your audience, and consider including materials on why a chest tube is inserted, caring for a chest tube and what to do in case of chest tube complications.

• 3

  Define the reasons in which a chest tube is used by talking about medical complications which can result in chest tube use. Talk about how chest tubes benefit the patient, how they are designed to work and the different types of chest tubes available, if necessary.

• 4

  Demonstrate how a chest tube is inserted by showing a video or PowerPoint presentation that relays this information. Ensure that your demonstration is appropriate for your audience and offers information in terms they can understand. Talk about chest tube insertion if appropriate videos or other materials are not available.

• 5

  Pass a chest tube around the room for people to see and handle. Show the collection unit, and discuss how it works with the chest tube to accumulate fluid and the importance of the different chambers. Consider using a practice tube connected to a collection unit and running water tinted with red dye through the tube to demonstrate how fluid passes from the chest tube into the collection chamber.

• 6

  Allow your audience to handle the chest tube and collection unit, if possible. Ensure you allow the opportunity for question-and-answer sessions throughout your presentation. Gauge the efficacy of your presentation by asking your audience questions about the material you have presented and determining if their answers display appropriate knowledge. Consider giving a short quiz, if appropriate.