Extubation of pediatric patients by PACU nurses

Abstract

Traditionally, the role of the PACU nurse has been to evaluate patient readiness for extubation, with the responsibility of tracheal extubation performed by the anesthesiologist or Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA). In our PACU, registered nurses routinely evaluate and extubate the majority of surgical cases. Our experience has shown that extubation by the PACU nursing staff improves airway management skills without compromising patient safety and facilitates OR turnover time. In this article, tracheal extubation performed by PACU nurses is detailed and a case study is presented.