The Evidence

in the medical intensive care unit at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Mechanical ventilation is one of the most commonly used tech-nologies in critical care. Despite the prevalence of ventilators, care plan-ning is heavily influenced by anecdote and clinical preference. A vast array of ventilator modes and mode options exist, and claims of what works and what does not abound. Critical care nurses ’ knowledge and understand-ing of mechanical ventilation are cen-tral to ensuring patients ’ safe passage from the acute stage of ventilation to weaning. Of key importance is the use of evidence that may improve patients ’ outcomes. To that end, in this article, I discuss the science related to mechanical ventilation in patients with acute respiratory dis-tress syndrome (ARDS) and in patients who require weaning. The Acute Stage of Ventilation: Supplying Ventilation to th