MANAGEMENT OF MECHANICAL VENTILATION: CHALLENGES IN NURSING CARE

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the challenges of nursing care in the management of mechanical ventilation in hospitalized patients. METHODOLOGY: This is an Integrative Literature Review (ILR) with an exploratory, descriptive, and analytical approach. The search was conducted in the SciELO, MEDLINE, and LILACS databases, using controlled Health Sciences Descriptors (DeCS) combined with the Boolean operators “AND” and “OR.” Original articles, systematic and integrative reviews, as well as case reports published between 2020 and 2025, available free of charge in Portuguese and English, were included. A total of 795,990 publications were initially identified, which were reduced to 9,438 after applying eligibility criteria. Following a thorough reading of titles, abstracts, and full texts, 14 studies were selected to compose the final sample. The guiding question was developed based on the PICo strategy. Bardin’s content analysis method was used to analyze the results. RESULTS: The analyzed studies highlighted recurring challenges in nursing care for patients under mechanical ventilation, such as workload overload, limitations in human and material resources, poor adherence to protocols, gaps in professional training, and difficulties in ventilator weaning. CONCLUSION: Nursing care in the management of mechanical ventilation faces structural, organizational, and training-related barriers that may compromise patient safety and clinical outcomes. The adoption of evidence-based protocols, combined with strengthening continuing education, represents an essential pathway to improving quality of care, preventing complications, and promoting safe practices in the hospital environment.