Health care reform continues to focus on
improving patient outcomes while reducing
costs. Clinical nurse specialists (CNSs)
should facilitate this process to ensure that
best practice standards are used and patient
safety is enhanced. One example of ensuring
best practices and patient safety is early
extubation after open heart surgery, which is
a critical component of fast track protocols
that reduces may reduce the development of
pulmonary complications in the postoperative
period while decreasing overall length
of stay in the hospital. This project was an
interdisciplinary endeavor, led by the CNS
and nurse manager, which combined early
extubation protocols with enhanced rounding
initiatives to help decrease overall length
of ventilation time as well as reduce pulmonary
complications in patients in the cardiac
surgery intensive care unit. The project
resulted in a significant decrease in length of
stay and a decrease in pulmonary complications
in the postoperative period.
Keywords: cardiac surgery , clinical nurse
specialist , extubation , nursing , outcomes ,
performance, performance improvement