Providence Care Respiratory Therapist (RT) Taylar Wall has been a fixture at Providence Care Hospital since 2021.
He is Providence Care’s only full-time respiratory therapist working alongside 15 others who rotate their shifts between Providence Care and Kingston Health Sciences Centre. Taylar works primarily on Lakeview 2, the hospital’s Complex Medical Care unit which has 10 beds for patients who use ventilators.
“Daily we maintain the ventilator machines, provide airway care, maintain tracheostomy tubes, support nursing staff who are ventilator trained and orient and educate staff, including those new to the unit, while keeping up on education and best practices ourselves,” explains Taylar.
The Complex Medical Care inpatient unit at Providence Care Hospital received funding to expand to 10 beds in the fall of 2023, which is when Taylar became the hospital’s full-time RT. The program’s goal is to increase quality of life for longer stay patients who use ventilators while also freeing up beds in Intensive Care units (ICUs) at acute care hospitals.
“I really get to know these patients because I’m seeing them on a daily basis, whereas in the ICU you rotate through the hospital, through all the departments, and the patients are short stay, so you don’t really get to know the patients or their families,” explains Taylar. “Here we work daily with the patients and their family members and other allied health care team members to help with all the other therapies the patient is doing. It could be something like assisting to get the patient outside on the patio for therapy or helping take the patient for a walk for fresh air.”
Taylar says focusing on quality of life and forming relationships with his patients and their families is the most rewarding part of his job.
“I get to see the positive side of long-term ventilation,” says Taylar. “We focus on quality of life and with some patients, even though they’re on the ventilator, we can deflate their cuff and their airway and they can speak and communicate. We have more time to get to know the patient and spend quality time with them.”
Many patients who require a long-term ventilator do so because of a stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, or because of degenerative muscular diseases like Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Muscular Dystrophy (MS).
“We work with patients in stable condition but who require complex care, for example those who need multiple medications, therapies, airway care and airway therapy to prevent aspiration, pneumonia and infection.”
And it’s not just on the Complex Medical Care unit where you can find Taylar. He works with referrals he receives from across the hospital and frequents the hospital’s Palliative Care unit and anywhere there might be a need. Taylar says every day is different and it all depends on the needs of the patients.
“We assist with investigations for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), physio and OT [occupational therapy] therapies for patient’s requiring oxygen or securing funding for home oxygen so they can be discharged.”
As Providence Care celebrates National Respiratory Therapy (RT) Week, we’re shining a light on the dedication of Taylar and the rest of the Providence Care respiratory therapists who provide high-quality, compassionate care every day and make a positive difference in the lives of the people we care for and their loved loves.
