Bill Pruitt

Best-practice interventions: How can you prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia?

Learn why it may develop and what you can do to reduce your patients risk of this avoidable complication.

Weaning patients from mechanical: ventilation.

Learn to meet two common challenges: facilitating rapid weaning and helping patients who are difficult to wean from mechanical ventilation.

Clearing away pulmonary secretions.

Excess or retained pulmonary secretions impair ventilation, invite infection, and may threaten survival. Find out whos at greatest risk and how to keep airways clear.

Clear the air with closed suctioning

Using a closed system to remove airway secretions helps protect your patient and yourself.

What you need to know about venous thromboembolism

Find out how to prevent, recognize, and respond to deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

Loosening the bonds of RESTRICTIVE LUNG DISEASE

Find out about this common but lesser-known respiratory condition and how to help your patient.

The health impact of oil spills: Lessons learned.

ON APRIL 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil digging rig exploded, killing 11 people and causing a well failure of epic proportions—one responsible for dumping massive quantities of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico and polluting its shoreline—from Texas to the Florida Panhandle. By mid-July, the leak was finally contained, but only after the damaged well had released about 4.9 million barrels (205.8 million gallons) of crude oil. In September—almost 5 months after the explosion—the leaking well was declared “effectively dead” by the federal government.1,2 This disaster’s economic impact has been devastating, with fishing and tourism cut in half in many places, and at a complete standstill in others. While biologists and environmentalists gather information about the effects of the oil on marine life and the region’s flora and fauna, scientists and healthcare professionals are investigating the disaster’s impact on human health.

Keeping respiratory syncytial virus at bay.

Its not just kid stuff-RSV threatens vulnerable adults as well as young children. Take this experts advice to keep the common cold virus from turning deadly.

caring for a patient with asthma

Follow these steps to keep your patient breathing easy.