Evaluation of critical care providers' knowledge in basic mechanical ventilation management: An opportunity for improvement

Challenges and Responsibilities of Critical Care Nurses in the Weaning Process from Mechanical Ventilation for Patients Post-Cardiothoracic Surgery: A Qualitative Study

“…Moreover, they have effective involvement in the weaning process. Assessment of mechanically ventilated patients' hemodynamics is the most important approach to successful weaning of patients from MV [1,3,5,17]. Moreover, ICU nurses are required to have sufficient knowledge and skills about the weaning process and be ready to monitor and manage patients' health during the weaning process [17,18,21].…”

“…Assessment of mechanically ventilated patients' hemodynamics is the most important approach to successful weaning of patients from MV [1,3,5,17]. Moreover, ICU nurses are required to have sufficient knowledge and skills about the weaning process and be ready to monitor and manage patients' health during the weaning process [17,18,21]. Moreover, the ventilator parameters should be adjusted based on the patient's condition in response to treatment.…”

“…This finding indicates that ICUs in Egyptian and the KSA must increase the number of qualified professional nurses in critical care areas since many nurse leaders recommend giving responsibility for ICU care to nurses who have at least a BSN and have had critical care nursing training before entering into practice in ICUs. Some studies have indicated that there were better patients' care outcomes, better nurses' satisfaction and perceptions of nursing care, and safer and better-quality nursing practice in ICUs, which were documented when hiring nurses with BSNs since these factors were compared with the hiring of nurses with fewer academic and training qualifications [1,4,13,17,18,24]. Therefore, enhancing the health education system and hiring highly qualified nurses in ICUs are essential issues.…”

“…For example, in Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), decision-making for the MV weaning process is managed by physicians, while nurses usually provide routine care for ventilated patients. In the KSA, RTs have some decision-making authority and make contributions to the MV weaning process [15][16][17].…”

“…To determine the feasibility of transferring this experience from ICUs in Denmark to ICUs in Arab countries, including Egypt and the KSA, it is essential to have knowledgeable and skilled nurses to play these roles [13]. Moreover, to start implementing the weaning protocol and involve Arab nurses in the weaning process, it is essential to have baseline knowledge about nurses' perceptions of the use of weaning protocols and their readiness and willingness to be involved in the weaning process, particularly when treating very critical patients, such as those post-cardiothoracic surgery [13,16,17]. Unfortunately, there has been only scarce literature from the KSA and Egypt investigating the effectiveness of the adapting of weaning protocols and roles and the contributions of nurses and RTs to the weaning process for patients' post-cardiothoracic surgery.…”