Resp Care
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Checking and maintaining mechanical ventilators traditionally have been the responsibility of the respiratory care practitioner and among the many reasons that the need for the profession of respiratory care persists. The increasing complexity of the mechanical ventilator itself and the appropriate application and monitoring of the various modes available in a single device are such reasons. ⋯ The perception of an institution's need for trained respiratory care specialists is affected by both the quality and quantity of service that each individual RCP offers to the care of patients. Our skills and performance should be patient-centered not device-centered so that our assessment and monitoring of patients includes more than just "writing down the numbers." Finally, respiratory care research must continue to subject the old dogma to rigorous scrutiny while searching for new and innovative ways to care for our patients.
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Comparative Study
A comparison of the CPAP performance characteristics of the Puritan-Bennett 7200a and a prototype continuous pressure-regulating ventilator.
A prototype demand-flow medical ventilator for intensive care unit (ICU) applications has been developed with the ability to maintain continuous pressure regulation of proximal airway pressure during both inspiratory and expiratory respiratory phases. The performance of this system was investigated in laboratory tests of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) mode, a ventilatory mode in which airway pressure regulation is strongly challenged. ⋯ An ICU ventilator utilizing continuous regulation of proximal airway pressure has been shown to provide statistically significant improvements in CPAP performance relative to the PB7200a in laboratory tests. Further testing will be required to quantify the clinical significance of these results.