How I Teach: Liberation from Mechanical Ventilation

Liberation from mechanical ventilation is one of the most important decisions in the intensive care unit (ICU), as extubation failure is associated with worse outcomes. Determining readiness to extubate can be challenging in complex patients and lead to provider stress. Here, we provide our approach to teaching liberation from mechanical ventilation for learners in the ICU. We use a case-based didactic session that purposefully introduces ambiguous cases without a clear answer, utilizing aspects of both cognitive load theory and adult learning theories.