Comparison between a nurse-led weaning protocol and a weaning protocol based on physician's clinical judgment in ICU patients.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare a nurse-led weaning protocol with a physician-driven weaning protocol in mechanically ventilated (MV) patients. METHODS: In this quasi-experimental study with a one-group design, a total of 65 ICU patients, requiring MV for more than 72 h, were selected via convenience sampling. In routine practice, the physician's clinical judgment is needed to determine the patient's readiness for liberation from MV. A physician-driven weaning protocol was compared with a nurse-led protocol, using Burn's Weaning Scale (BWS) in three working phases. Descriptive and inferential statistics were measured for data analysis using SPSS version 16. RESULTS: Based on BWS, the mean MV duration was 111.75±33.46 h in the nurse-led weaning group and 125.12±43.43 h in the physician-driven weaning group. There was a significant difference in terms of MV duration between the two groups (P = 0.000). CONCLUSION: The present findings showed that nurses' assessment of patient's readiness for weaning from MV (BWS) is a safe approach during the day, which can reduce MV duration more than other typical methods in ICUs.