With a growing need for open hospital beds, especially in the intensive care unit (ICU), applying therapies and support to patients which enable them to be treated in lower acuity settings is more important than ever. NIV should be considered for first line respiratory support for patients having difficulty breathing in order to avoid intubation. Using NIV to wean patients from mechanical ventilation (MV) in the ICU could enable the patient to move to a less critical department, which would open a bed for a high acuity patient. The benefits of weaning patients from MV to NIV has been well-established in clinical research and can significantly reduce risk for other nosocomial infections and lung injury.