Easy blood gas analysis: Implications for nursing

Arterial blood gas analysis is a common investigation in emergency departments and intensive care units for monitoring patients with acute respiratory failure. It also has some applications in general practice, such as assessing the need for domiciliary oxygen therapy in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. An arterial blood gas result can help in the assessment of a patient’s gas exchange, ventilatory control and acid–base balance. Nurses are usually involved in taking and analyzing the ABGs and normally they report these results to the doctors or anesthesiologists. Out of these results the anesthesiologists will then prescribe further treatment for the critically ill patient. Hence, it is important that nurses are familiar with the information obtained to be able to detect the disturbances in ventilation, oxygen delivery and acid–base balance.