Application of Burn’s wean assessment program on the duration of mechanical ventilation among patients in intensive care units: A clinical trial

BACKGROUND Weaning decision for the patients on a mechanical ventilation (MV) device is often made based on personal judgments and experiences, which results in longer MV length of stay and higher costs. Therefore, the present study aimed to the effect of application of Burn's wean assessment program on MV length of stay among the patients hospitalized in intensive care units (ICUs). MATERIALS AND METHODS This is a clinical trial in which 50 patients connected to mechanical ventilators for more than 48 h were selected through convenient sampling and were randomly divided into two groups of 25 subjects. Burn's wean assessment program was employed in study group, while weaning was assessed by a physician in control group. The findings were analyzed by descriptive (frequency distribution, mean and SD) and inferential (independent t-test, Chi-square, Fisher's exact test, and Mann Whitney) statistical tests. RESULTS The findings showed that length of MV was 134.2 (20.5) h which was significantly less than the control (P = 0.03). CONCLUSION The results showed that application of Burn's wean assessment by the nurses to assess patients' readiness for weaning from the ventilator is a safe method in day time and shortens the length of MV in ICUs compared to the routine methods.