Vent settings?

I wonder how the Aussies get along in critical care?... respiratory therapists dont even exist there. They probably dont use ventilators down under i'd bet...because there arent any RT's to educate them.

It is a poor nurse (speaking soley of ICU nurses) who doesnt have a handle on vents, vent-settings, running the vent, ABG's and all the rest. I get really frustrated with nurses who just 'page respiratory' because they're lazy, dumb, or both. Respiratory therapists are important but remain an ancillary or 'supplemental' aspect of care. Nurses are responsible for their patients...and all of their systems..including the repsiratory system.

(Also (for anyone who cares) there was a recent article in the Journal of Critical Care regarding Australian ICU-nurses guiding patient ventilator-weaning and extubation. The nurses got very good scores...a good read for anyone interested)

I realize this is an old post, but what the....?

They probably dont use ventilators down under i'd bet...because there arent any RT's to educate them.

Very few countries have RTs, not just Australia. Why would critical care nurses need RTs to educate them when they have other CCRNs to do it? I think you'll find that since Aussie ICU nurses manage the ventilator entirely in collaboration with the ICU medical team that our understanding of pulmonary physiology and ventilator management is just fine. In fact, a lot better than many of my counterparts in the US who "don't touch that" machine. We run ABGs on the ABG machine in the ICU, interpret them, decide if we need to change ventilator settings, extubate as decided with intensivists, etc.

Saying "they probably don't use ventilators down under" then referring to an article about ventilator weaning by Australian ICU nurses just makes you look like a buffoon.

This thread is 7 years old but a great explaination about a commonly used piece of equiptment in the critical care areas.!!!!