2006 OPEN FORUM Abstracts
Education, Staff Competency and Revised Documentation Promotes Reduced Duration of Mechanical Ventilation (MV).
John S Emberger BS RRT, Gerard Fulda MD, Marc T Zubrow MD, Billie Speakman
BS RRT, Departments of Respiratory Care, Surgery and Medicine, Christiana Care
Health System, Newark DE.
Background: Awareness has
increased for optimal timing of liberation from MV due to evidence-based
weaning publications and Institute for Healthcare Improvement's 100K Lives
campaign. We wanted to determine if
education, staff competencies and revised documentation had an effect on
duration of MV at our institution.
Methods:
RCP's underwent evidence-based education and simulated
lab competency for weaning/extubation readiness. Ventilator documentation was
revised to support evidence-based techniques.
These changes occurred between
Results:
The pre-implementation phase included 1458 ventilator patients with average
duration of MV = 5.7 + 7.6 days. The
post-implementation phase included 1338 patients with average duration of MV 5.3
+ 8.1 days. Day 4 through 12 showed the most consistent reduction in
duration of mechanical ventilation (see figure).
Conclusions: At our
institution, education and simulated lab competency concerning liberation from
MV, as well as revising the documentation to support evidence-based practice appears
to have promoted quicker extubation and reduced duration of MV.