NONPHARMACOLOGIC MANAGEMENT OF PATIENT DISTRESS DURING MECHANICAL VENTILATION

Patients on mechanical ventilators experience distress related to the endotracheal tube, the critical care environment, and the critical illness. Critical care providers can limit this distress through a variety of nonpharmacologic strategies often used in conjunction with drug therapy. Therapeutic communication and collaborative skills, cognitive-behavioral therapies such as relaxation and music therapy, and more flexible visiting policies are examples of techniques that nurses and physicians can use to increase patient comfort. Mechanically ventilated patients require health care providers who understand the typical stressors of the experience and are willing to listen to the patient's own unique distress.