Airway management for nurses:emergency assessment and care

Within the hospital environment patients can deteriorate rapidly and for many different reasons. Maintaining a patient's breathing is the main priority in any emergency situation--although achieving airway control can be difficult. All health professionals need to be able to safely undertake airway management and the key to the management of an airway is through a thorough assessment, to firstly ensure whether the airway is patent or not. This article will discuss airway management--both acute and chronic--as well as associated nursing care.