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Unit of study_

CRIT5012: Mechanical Ventilation

2025 unit information

Mechanical ventilation is a common supportive therapy in the critical care environment. Students in this unit of study will become familiar with mechanical ventilator design and function, learn to interpret ventilator waveforms and measured data, and develop an understanding of the physiological consequences of mechanical ventilation. Commonly used models of mechanical ventilators are discussed and students will have the opportunity to become acquainted with their performance characteristics. Case-based discussions will be used to explore common strategies for ventilation in different clinical scenarios, including the operating theatre, the emergency department, and in the ICU.

Unit details and rules

Managing faculty or University school:

Medicine and Health

Study level Postgraduate
Academic unit Critical Care
Credit points 6
Prerequisites:
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None
Corequisites:
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None
Prohibitions:
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None
Assumed knowledge:
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None

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

  • LO1. Explain the rationale for oxygen therapy and mechanical ventilation, including its effects on human physiology
  • LO2. Appropriately initiate, monitor and escalate respiratory support consisting of oxygen therapy, non-invasive ventilation and invasive mechanical ventilation
  • LO3. Describe medical gas supply systems, common ventilator systems, respiratory circuits and humidifier equipment, including their safety features and limitations
  • LO4. Manipulate user-controlled variables on a mechanical ventilator and predict the physiological consequences of the resulting changes
  • LO5. Interpret ventilator data, including ventilator waveforms
  • LO6. Analyse common ventilator problems
  • LO7. Apply evidence-based solutions to routine and complex patient care scenarios, including those requiring advanced mechanical ventilation strategies such as ARDS, bronchospasm and one-lung ventilation
  • LO8. Correctly modify ventilator therapies and apply non-ventilator strategies to minimise complications and maximise effectiveness from mechanical ventilation.

Unit availability

This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.

The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.

Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Semester 1 2024
Online Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Semester 1 2025
Online Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Outline unavailable
Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Semester 1 2020
Online Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Semester 1 2021
Online Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Semester 1 2022
Online Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Semester 1 2023
Online Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

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Modes of attendance (MoA)

This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.