Ventilator Academy and online resources: Mechanical ventilator training made easy

Help your staff be well-prepared to handle the increasing demands of ventilated patients by using our online resources, including Ventilator Academy. This self-paced curriculum provides a detailed overview of how to operate and manage mechanical ventilator equipment such as the Puritan Bennett™ 980 ventilator. Plus, you’ll find thorough resources on supporting patient care during mechanical ventilation. In this blog post, we’ll walk you through the Puritan Bennett™ 980 ventilator and mechanical ventilation with our online resources:

Understanding mechanical ventilation for optimizing patient care with Ventilator Academy

Helping your patient have a positive outcome requires you and your team to have adequate knowledge of best practices for managing mechanically ventilated patients. With Ventilator Academy, you can explore ventilation concepts throughout the patient journey. Whether you need a refresher on the basics or deeper training to understand concepts and strategies that help, our Ventilator Academy offers a wide variety of courses:

  • Anatomy and physiology of a normal functioning respiratory system Understanding the normal functions of ventilation and circulation. This course provides details on how the ventilation perfusion relationship assists in the holistic need for mechanical ventilation.
  • Respiratory failure In this Ventilator Academy course, you’ll learn how certain conditions are associated with respiratory failure and how to prevent and manage them.
  • Pulmonary mechanics: resistance, compliance, and elastance This video explores the varied types of ventilator inflation and their association with airway resistance.
  • Airway support during ventilation Your team must understand how to collectively manage airway support when intervention is necessary, and this course provides strategies on how to effectively support your team.
  • Basic modes of ventilation Strategizing mechanical ventilation needs for your patient requires clinician experience, but also equipment availability. Explore the various approaches to patient mechanical ventilation.
  • Patient journey: prevention of adverse outcomes After a patient is liberated and discharged from a ventilator, they may still be recovering from the resounding impacts. Understand patient experiences from their lens to improve care delivery.
  • Sedation Under-sedating patients may cause adverse outcomes, but so can over-sedating. View this Ventilator Academy course to understand sedation management for all phases of mechanical ventilation.
  • Synchrony Know when your patient is experiencing asynchrony and how to apply treatment strategies to help prevent adverse outcomes.
  • Mobility Ensuring your patients do not experience diaphragm atrophy and respiratory muscle weakness helps you prevent and manage intensive care unit acquired weakness (ICUAW).
  • Presenting VILI and VIDD It’s possible for patients to incur respiratory and diaphragm injuries with mechanical ventilation. Knowing how to prevent and treat this may advance patient outcomes.
  • Preventing VAP One of the more common hospital-acquired infections is ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Knowing the prevention principles and how to spot VAP is important for positive patient outcomes.
  • Ability to breathe: definition and awareness Explore work of breathing (WOB), during ventilation and when defining goals for mechanical ventilation liberation.
  • Challenges of weaning In this Ventilator Academy course, we’ll help you understand the challenges of weaning patients from mechanical ventilation and explore ways to minimize these challenges.
  • Spontaneous awakening trials and spontaneous breathing trials Patients receiving mechanical ventilation run the risk of several adverse events. Know how and when to deploy spontaneous awakening trials (SATs) and spontaneous breathing trials (SBTs) to improve their outcomes.

Puritan Bennett™ 980 ventilator foundational and advanced training

In addition to our Ventilator Academy, we offer online ventilator training with the option to receive AARC/CSRT or ANCC accreditation. Courses include:

Related: Unsure what type of ventilator your patient needs? Read this article on the optimal ventilator for your critical care patients.

Ventilation Virtual Training and Online Courses

We offer online ventilator training with the option to receive AARC/CSRT or ANCC accreditation. Available courses include:

Related: Our training is designed to help you provide innovative solutions and optimize patient care. View the full library of training courses, downloads, and other educational materials.

Early Mobility in the ICU Resources

In the ICU, motion means life. Bundled with other interventions, early mobility addresses complications associated with extended periods of sedation, mechanical ventilation, and bed rest. Check out these resources to learn more about weaning and mobility in the ICU:

  • Early mobility overview Dr. Wischmeyer of Duke University gives an overview of the challenges associated with early mobility and the importance of implementing protocols.
  • Early mobility for nurses As a nurse, you’re often the first to see the effects of immobility. But how do you know when a patient is ready to move?
  • Early mobility for intensivists Automatic physical therapy referrals. Scheduling procedures around early mobility exercises. There are a lot of options that ICU clinicians can consider to make patient mobility a priority.
  • Early mobility for hospital administrators Administrative support can make all the difference when it comes to getting an early mobility program off the ground in your ICU.
  • Early mobility for respiratory therapists Early mobility may help get patients ready to leave the ICU. But as a respiratory therapist, how do you get a patient ready for early mobility?

Related: Learn how you can dispel some of the common misconceptions about early mobility programs.

About the Author

Gary Milne is the Clinical and Technical Director of Ventilation. He has been with Medtronic for 25 years and has been a clinical lead for much of his career. He holds twelve patents on ventilator design and a bachelor of science in respiratory therapy from Indiana University.

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