Administering Medication via Nebuliser

Nebulisers are used to deliver a variety of medications via the respiratory tract for local or systemic effect. Nebulisation is a process by which oxygen or air is pumped through a liquid medication to create a mist of fine particles that can be inhaled over a period of 5 to 10 minutes. This allows for larger doses of medication to be inhaled over a longer period.

They are useful for:

• administering medications that are not available in an inhaler
• clients who cannot use or accept a metered dose inhaler (MDI) with a spacer or other device because of confusion, hand weakness or coordination problems.

Nebulisers need to be maintained and cleaned to avoid microbial build-up.