Some of the major difficulties identified involve patient compliance, secretion retention, air leaks, rebreathing and clinician inexperience and impatience. Finally, DeLynn Johnston and Dr. Hill cover NPPV program development, associated costs, resource utilization and outcomes assessment in chapter 11. This is particularly important to those practitioners involved in respiratory home care. There is also an appendix that outlines a policy for the implementation of NPPV for acute respiratory failure. Noninvasive Positive Pressure Ventilation is 240 pages long, including the index.
All chapters are well-referenced and most include tables to highlight information presented.
There are no chapter objectives, key terms, patient case studies, review questions or other instructional features to aid the educational process. I highly recommend this text to all respiratory therapists, but especially those who work in emergency departments, critical care units and in the home care setting. It will also make a valuable addition to any department or personal library.