A male client with pneumonia develops respiratory failure and has a partial pressure of arterial oxygen of 55 mm Hg. He’s placed
on mechanical ventilation with a fraction of inspired oxygen (FIO2) of 0.9. The nursing goal should be to reduce the FIO2 to no greater than:___________
The nurse must ensure that the FIO2 must not be greater than 0.5. This is because if the FIO2 is even slightly greater than than for as little as 16 to 24 hours, it can get really toxic and then diffusion of gas and surfactant activity will be reduced drastically. In ideal circumstances, the oxygen source is expected to be room air and within a range of FIO2 0.18 - 0.21.
