A 56-year-old patient is admitted to the critical care unit with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)
The patient has been intubated and is mechanically ventilated. The patient is becoming increasingly agitated, and the high-pressure alarm on the ventilator has been frequently triggered. The nurse's first intervention for this patient would be to
a. administer midazolam (Versed) 5 mg by intravenous push immediately.
b. assess the patient to see if a physiologic reason exists for his agitation.
c. obtain a stat arterial blood gas level; his agitation indicates he is becoming increasingly hypoxic.
d. apply soft wrist restraints to keep him from pulling out the endotracheal tube.
B
The first step in determining the need for sedation is to assess the patient quickly for any physiologic causes that can be quickly reversed. In this case, endotracheal suctioning may solve the high-pressure alarm problem.
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