Q Are there any evaluation standards for artificial airway management? What are the scientific methods to set up the nursing quality indicators?

A Debra Siela, RN, PhD, ACNS-BC, CCRN, CCNS, CNE, RRT, replies:

The evaluation standards for artificial airway management are related to patient outcomes. The incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is one of the primary outcomes used to determine standards of care for acutely and critically ill patients with artificial airways. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines ventilator in the following way: A ventilator is a device to assist or control respiration continuously, inclusive of the weaning period, through a tracheostomy or by endotracheal intubation.1 

Several agencies and groups, including the National Quality Forum,2 the National Database for Nursing Quality Indicators,3 and the Joint Commission,4 use the incidence of VAP as a quality indicator or outcome related to the use of ventilators...

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