title: Nurses and ventilators.
abstract: In the previous issue of Critical Care, Rose and colleagues report the results of a survey on the frequency with which ICU nurses are involved in decision-making in ventilator management. About 63 to 88% of the decisions were made by nurses in collaboration with physicians, and as much as 68% of ventilator adjustments were performed by nurses independent of physicians. Nurse involvement in decision-making was twice as likely in ICUs that use weaning protocols. The ICU nurse performs many roles, the most important being the continuous observation of a patient. The diversion of a nurse's attention from constant vigilance by performing tasks of no benefit, such as the use of weaning protocols, would be a most unfortunate turn of events.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Edward Hines Jr Veterans Affairs Hospital, 111N, 5th Avenue and Roosevelt Road, Hines, IL 60141, USA. ajubran@lumc.edu
authors.forename: Amal
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jubran
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D012121:Respiration, Artificial / Q000379:methods*; D015300:Ventilator Weaning / Q000379:methods*