Dimensions of critical care nursing : DCCN
-
Dimens Crit Care Nurs · Jul 1996
Review Case ReportsAggressive weaning in cardiac surgical patients.
Nursing management of cardiac surgical patients has changed dramatically over the last several years. The need for cost-effective care with quality patient outcomes has forced critical care nurses to re-evaluate the standard of practice for postoperative cardiac patients. ⋯ In the fast-track weaning protocol, the nurses were given more authority to make critical decisions during the weaning process. This article describes the transition from the traditional time-based weaning system to the fast-track system where individual weaning progress is monitored by the critical care nurses.