Ineffective airway clearance related to artificial airway

Ineffective airway clearance occurs when an artificial airway is used because normal mucociliary transport mechanisms are bypassed and impaired. Nursing assessment and intervention are the keys to maintaining airway patency in the patient with an artificial airway in place. The assessment of breath sounds is critical to making a valid clinical judgment about airway patency. Nursing interventions such as tracheobronchial suctioning, postural drainage, and providing exogenous humidity to the inspired air are indicated to maintain airway patency, which is the goal of treatment. Suggested areas for future research related to this diagnosis include validation of the signs and symptoms which are proposed as being specific to the causes of ineffective airway clearance and the continuation of experimental studies to demonstrate the efficacy of various interventions for this nursing diagnosis.