Ventilation Patients between Acute Care and Long-term Out-of-Hospital Ventilation

Background The number of invasive and non-invasive long-term out-of-hospital ventilations has been increasing rapidly for years. At the same time, there is poor information on the quality of care of out-of-hospital ventilated patients. The present investigation was conducted as part of the OVER- BEAS study. The aim of this study was to describe the care situation of weaning patients from admission to discharge from the weaning center using existing routine documentation. Material and Methods In our retrospective analysis, we included all patients admitted in 2018 via the weaning ward of the Thorax Center Munnerstadt. Descriptive analysis of routine data collected as part of quality management was performed. Data sources were the WeanNet database, the discharge letter of the weaning center, and the transfer report of the referring hospital. Results In the studied weaning center, 50.8% of the patients (n = 31) could be completely weaned from the respirator and extubated or decannulated (category 3aI). If complete weaning was not successful, 75.0% (n = 21) required the constant presence of specially trained staff or a specialist nurse in the further course. In this case, further care was mostly provided in inpatient care facilities (e. g., ventilator shared living community). Conclusion Based on routine documentation, the care situation of weaning patients can be presented and compared with known data. In this way, the outcome quality of a weaning center can be made comparable.