Following a discussion with BARNA Committee members late 2012, it was decided that a national audit of airway management practices within the PACU environment would be undertaken. A systematic literature review at the time highlighted the lack of local or national guidance for recovery nurses/PACU practitioners to extubate their own patients. Extubation is described as the discontinuation of an artificial airway. An artificial airway can be described as a plastic or rubber device that can be inserted into the upper or lower respiratory tract to facilitate ventilation or the removal of secretions Farlex Inc, 2011. Guidelines from the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland AAGBI, 2002 stated that the anaesthetist that administered the anaesthetic was responsible for the removal of the airway. However their updated recovery module AAGBI, 2013 states that the task of extubation may be delegated to an appropriately trained person. The Association for Perioperative Practitioners AfPP, 2007 recommended that if responsibility is delegated, the practitioner should have received validated training and be deemed competent to perform the task.
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