Respiratory Failure

This continuing education program is accredited and can be taken for either CE accreditation or general learning.  If taken for credit, this course provides one contact hour for nurses (California Board of Nursing), RTs (American Association of Respiratory Care), EMS professionals (CAPCE), and CRNAs (American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, B Credit).

Learning Objectives

This course is designed to give a foundational understanding of the precipitants, prevention, and complications of respiratory failure, a common respiratory condition. After completing this course, you will be able to:

• Discuss factors that may lead to respiratory failure, including those that negatively impact the quality of the airway, the lungs, physiologic structures, ventilatory drive, and gas exchange.
• Explain how conditions that contribute to respiratory failure may be prevented.
• Describe potential complications of respiratory failure and the prognosis for patients who experience it.
• Distinguish between hypoxemic, hypercapnic, and mixed respiratory failure.
• Describe the diagnostic approach to each respiratory failure type.
• Discuss representative pathologic conditions associated with each respiratory failure type.