Clinical skills: a care plan approach to nurse-led extubation.

Long-term mechanical ventilation (in patients who require mechanical ventilation for longer than 24 hours) has been associated with prolonged anxiety, chest infections and high mortality rates. Prolonged mechanical ventilation is also costly, as it tends to be carried out in critical care environments which require high levels of staffing. Therefore, it would appear to be of great benefit to patients, relatives and all multidisciplinary healthcare professionals concerned in delivering respiratory care if patient ventilation was kept as brief as possible. Current opinions seem to suggest that nurses can be the key players in reducing the time on a mechanical ventilator for patients and can take the lead on the extubation process of ventilatory weaning.