Respiratory Failure

Learning Objectives

This course is designed to give a foundational understanding of the precipitants, prevention, and complications of respiratory failure, a common respiratory condition. After completing this course, you will be able to:

• Discuss factors that may lead to respiratory failure, including those that negatively impact the quality of the airway, the lungs, physiologic structures, ventilatory drive, and gas exchange.
• Explain how conditions that contribute to respiratory failure may be prevented.
• Describe potential complications of respiratory failure and the prognosis for patients who experience it.
• Distinguish between hypoxemic, hypercapnic, and mixed respiratory failure.
• Describe the diagnostic approach to each respiratory failure type.
• Discuss representative pathologic conditions associated with each respiratory failure type.