A Patient Suffering from Postoperative Complications Has Been Receiving Mechanical

question 90

Multiple Choice

A patient suffering from postoperative complications has been receiving mechanical ventilation for 6 days with a volume ventilator. A heat-moisture exchanger (HME) is providing control over humidification and airway temperature. Over the past 24 hr, the patient's secretions have decreased in quantity but are thicker and more purulent. Which of the following actions would you suggest at this time?

• A) Replace the HME.
• B) Switch over to a heated wick humidifier.
• C) Administer acetylcysteine every 2 hr via the nebulizer.
• D) Increase the frequency of suctioning.

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Definitions:

Assignable Variation

Variation in a process that can be traced to a specific cause, as opposed to random or inherent variation.

Specific Events

Particular occurrences or happenings that are distinct and defined within a certain context or set of conditions.

Control Limits

Statistical boundaries set in process control charts that indicate the acceptable range of process performance and help identify moments of significant deviation or trend.

Standard Errors

Measures of the variability or spread of a sample statistic distribution if the experiment were to be repeated many times.