Vaping: What Every Emergency Nurse Practitioner Should Know!

As of December 10, 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 2,668 hospitalized cases of lung injury and 60 deaths associated with use of electronic nicotine delivery systems, or "vaping." In many cases, patients required multiple health care visits prior to diagnosis. Recognition of the risk factors, symptoms, and examination findings that have been consistently reported is critical to making the diagnosis and initiating treatment early in the progression of disease. The precise mechanism and causative agent have yet to be elucidated, but the association with vaping has been established. Multidisciplinary collaboration among health care providers, poison centers, health departments, reference laboratories, and the CDC will be necessary to identify the cause and prevent further harm.