Tracheostomy Care training
This annual refresher covers the knowledge you need to safely care for a person with a long term tracheostomy in their own home. You will review daily care tasks, emergency recognition and response, and the vital importance of always being ready to act. Remember, this module covers knowledge only. You must also complete practical competency assessment with a registered nurse before delivering tracheostomy care.
What This Training Covers
A clear, practical grounding in tracheostomy care.
This annual refresher covers the knowledge you need to safely care for a person with a long term tracheostomy in their own home. You will review daily care tasks, emergency recognition and response, and the vital importance of always being ready to act. Remember, this module covers knowledge only. You must also complete practical competency assessment with a registered nurse before delivering tracheostomy care.
Learning Outcomes
By the end, your staff will be able to:
What Your Team Will Learn
A closer look at the tracheostomy care module.
The module is built in short, practical sections. Each one teaches a part of the topic, then applies it to a real care scenario and checks understanding before moving on.
What a Tracheostomy Is and Why It Needs Daily Care
A tracheostomy is a surgically created opening in the neck and windpipe, held open by a tube through which the person breathes. For many people you support, this is their only or main airway, so keeping it clear and secure is life critical. Daily care includes suctioning to remove secretions, cleaning the skin around the stoma, checking and changing the inner tube, securing the tube with ties, and providing humidification. Air entering through a tracheostomy bypasses the nose, so it does not get warmed or moistened naturally, which is why humidification devices and saline are needed to stop secretions drying out and blocking the tube.
Daily Care Tasks and Working Within Your Competency
Your daily care includes suctioning when secretions build up, cleaning and caring for the skin around the stoma to prevent soreness or infection, checking and changing the inner tube according to the care plan, renewing the ties that secure the tube, and applying and changing humidification devices. You must work only within your assessed competency, which means you have been trained, observed and signed off as competent by a registered nurse for this specific person and their specific tube. The registered nurse who delegates these tasks to you remains accountable, so accurate recording of all care, secretions, tube changes and any concerns is essential. Never attempt a task you have not been assessed as competent to do.
Recognising a Tracheostomy Emergency
A tracheostomy emergency happens when the tube becomes blocked or displaced, and the person cannot breathe. Signs include the person in obvious distress, unable to move air through the tube, increased breathing effort, low oxygen levels, colour change such as going pale or blue, and no chest movement or breath sounds. This is life threatening because for many people the tracheostomy is their only airway, so a blocked or displaced tube can leave them unable to breathe within minutes or even seconds. You must recognise these signs immediately and act without delay. Always watch the person closely during care, checking their breathing, colour, oxygen levels and secretions, because changes can signal a problem developing.
Emergency Response and the Emergency Algorithm
If you recognise a tracheostomy emergency, follow the emergency algorithm immediately. First, call for help if anyone else is nearby. Attempt to clear the blockage by suctioning the tube. If suctioning does not work, remove the inner tube if there is one and try suctioning again. If the person is still not breathing adequately, you must change the tracheostomy tube using a spare tube of the same size from the emergency grab bag. If you cannot insert the same size, use the smaller size tube. If you cannot insert a tube, cover the stoma and give rescue breaths through the mouth and nose. Call 999 immediately if the person does not improve. This is why you must always have the emergency grab bag with the person, containing spare tubes of the same size and one smaller, suction and other essentials, and why you must be mentally rehearsed and ready to act, because minutes and sometimes seconds matter.
The Emergency Grab Bag and Equipment Readiness
The emergency grab bag must always be with the person, whether at home, at school or out in the community. It contains spare tracheostomy tubes of the same size and one size smaller, suction equipment, gloves, lubricant, scissors to cut the ties if needed, and other essentials specified in the person's care plan. You must check this equipment regularly to ensure spare tubes are in date, suction works, and nothing is missing. If you are working alone, which is common in complex care, you must be able to manage an emergency single handed until help arrives, so knowing exactly where the grab bag is and what is in it is critical. Equipment failure in an emergency can be fatal, so checking and maintaining it is not optional.
Infection Prevention, Communication and Dignity
Infection prevention is essential in tracheostomy care. Always use good hand hygiene before and after care, use a clean technique for suctioning and tube changes, and keep the stoma and surrounding skin clean and dry. Watch for signs of infection such as redness, swelling, discharge or smell around the stoma, or a change in secretion colour, amount or thickness, and report these immediately. Communication matters because air bypassing the vocal cords may mean the person cannot speak without a speaking valve, so you must support their voice, dignity and, for a child, their development and ordinary life. Always explain what you are doing, involve the person in their care, and respect their privacy and feelings. Tracheostomy care can feel intrusive and frightening, so your calm, respectful approach makes a real difference to the person's wellbeing.
Key Points Covered
The things your team must remember.
- A tracheostomy is the person's airway. A blocked or displaced tube is a life threatening emergency that requires immediate action.
- Always have the emergency grab bag with the person, containing spare tubes of the same size and one smaller, suction and other essentials. Check equipment regularly.
- Recognise emergency signs: distress, unable to move air, low oxygen, colour change, no chest movement. Follow the emergency algorithm: suction, remove inner tube, change tube, call 999.
- Work only within your assessed competency. You must be trained, observed and signed off by a registered nurse for this specific person and their tube.
- Daily care includes suctioning, stoma care, inner tube care, securing ties and humidification. Record all care and changes accurately.
- Watch for infection signs: redness, swelling, discharge at the stoma, or changes in secretion colour or thickness. Report concerns immediately.
Who and how often
Tracheostomy Care is refreshed every year, for the staff in your care setting whose roles require it. It includes a practical sign-off.
CQC and standards
Supports the training evidence CQC expects to see for a well-run, safe care setting.
How CareStream Delivers It
Not a slideshow once a year. Training that sticks.
CareStream delivers tracheostomy care training in the hub your team already uses, grounded in best practice and your own policies, so it fits your care setting and not a generic template.
Teach, then assess
Short teaching sections and a real care scenario, then an assessment that checks understanding.
In any language
Staff complete it in over 60 languages, while your records stay in English.
Learn and retry
A wrong answer triggers a short follow-up lesson and a fresh question, so the gap is closed.
Renewals handled
Automatic reminders at 90, 30 and 7 days, with a live compliance dashboard.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions.
Give your team tracheostomy care training that actually sticks.
See how CareStream delivers your mandatory training in the hub, in any language.