Mechanically ventilated patients routinely experience pain and anxiety from the presence of an endotracheal tube, ventilator strategies, placement of invasive catheters, surgical procedures, and even nursing procedures such as suctioning and repositioning.
Recent literature highlights that many of our vented patients received inadequate amounts of analgesia and anxiolysis
When giving anxiolytics and analgesics, focus first on analgesics.
Patients given analgesics first, followed by anxiolytics, consistently achieve goals with less amounts of supplemental medications needed.
