Episode 43: Three Roles of the SLP in the ICU with Brooke Richardson MS, CCC-SLP

 

As SLPs, we have more to offer our patients in the ICU than dysphagia management. While that is high on the priority list, we cannot overlook the valuable skills we can offer the team in management of ICU delirium, and early modes of communication for patients on a ventilator or tracheostomy. Additionally, Brooke encourages us to take in the bigger picture and evaluate whole body systems when assessing dysphagia, cognition, and communication deficits. This episode is filled to the brim with insightful tips and information to level up your practice in the ICU.

topics covered:

  • post-extubation dysphagia

  • delirium management

  • communication options for vent/trach population

  • early activity, early mobility

  • understanding body systems

  • being part of a team on the ICU

 

Everything Brooke:

Join Brooke’s mailing list for all things RMT, ICU, and MedSLP: BrookeRichardsonSLP.com

Find Brooke on Facebook and Instagram (@brookerichardsonslp)

Resources to dig deeper:

  1. We Need an Additional Seat at the Critical Care Multidisciplinary Team Table for our Speech-Language Pathologists

  2. Swallowing Dysfunction after Critical Illness

  3. ICU-Acquired Swallowing Disorders: Review

  4. Post-extubation Dysphagia: Does Timing of Evaluation Matter?

  5. Evaluation of Swallow Function Post-Extubation: Is It Necessary to Wait 24 Hours?

  6. Save the Date:  Hopkins ICU Rehab Conference

  7. Society for Critical Care Medicine

  8. ICUdelirium.org

  9. Effectiveness and Safety of the Awakening and Breathing Coordination, Delirium Monitoring/Management, and Early Exercise/Mobility Bundle

  10. SPEACS - training modules and resources for communication w/ patients in the ICU

  11. AAC in ICU 

  12. Last but not least: Passy Muir

HUGE, MASSIVE Thanks to Brooke for providing these incredible resources.

*hitting a paywall? Can’t access the research? Try Google Scholar. Click the link in the right hand column for access to the full article, if available.


Brooke Richardson is a Medical SLP in the MSICU at UNC Rex Hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina. She is a specialist in assessing and treating swallowing and communication disorders in critically ill and medically-complex adults, and has been instrumental in establishing the Respiratory Muscle Training program at UNC Rex Hospital. Prior to joining UNC Rex, Brooke was employed at Duke University Hospital where she was sought out by colleagues for her clinical expertise. Brooke has more than a decade of experience in the acute care and outpatient settings, and is a graduate of the Medical Speech-Language Pathology program at the University of Washington. She teaches courses in Respiratory Muscle Training, as well as other crucial topics in Medical Speech-Language Pathology; she is passionate about considering the "big medical picture" in the management of patients with swallowing and communication disorders.

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