Oesophageal pressure monitoring in intubated patients by intensive care units' nurses: An educational study.

Abstract

Trained ICU nurses may perform oesophageal pressure measurements which may help facilitate its implementation in the usual patient care to better assess lung and chest wall mechanics and easily detect patient-ventilator asynchronies. We thus conducted a prospective educational study aiming to assess the ability of ICU nurses to perform reliable oesophageal pressure measurements after a short dedicated training program. All the 11 nurses who completed the program succeeded their practical evaluation (nine (82%) at the first evaluation and two (18%) at their second attempt). These results show that this training program is feasible and that trained ICU nurses can perform accurate oesophageal pressure measurements in mechanically ventilated patients. Such training program may help to implement this technique in routine ICU care.