Pulmonary Mechanics: Resistance, Compliance, and Elastance

This continuing education program is accredited and can be taken for either CE accreditation or general learning. If taken for credit, this course provides one contact hour for nurses (California Board of Nursing), RTs (American Association of Respiratory Care), EMS professionals (CAPCE), and CRNAs (American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, B Credit).

Learning Objectives

This course is designed to provide you with a basic understanding of pulmonary mechanical forces during spontaneous breathing and with ventilatory support. These components — resistance, compliance, and elastance — impact the patients' work of breathing during spontaneous and positive pressure ventilation. Each will be discussed in detail, along with clinical implications for the ventilated patient. After completing this course, you will be able to:

• Recall how airway resistance impacts the patients' work of breathing during spontaneous and positive pressure ventilation.
• Recall how compliance impacts the patients' work of breathing during spontaneous and positive pressure ventilation.
• Recall how elastance impacts the patients' work of breathing during spontaneous and positive pressure ventilation.
• Identify clinical implications of resistance, compliance, and elastance in volume control and pressure control ventilation.