Chapter 7: Moving and positioning
Skip chapter table of contents and go to main content
Evidence‐based approaches
Principles of care
The main aim of positioning a patient with respiratory symptoms is to:
- maximize ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) matching
- minimize the work of breathing
- maximize the drainage of secretions.
Positioning may enhance medical management by using the effects of gravity to help achieve the aims listed above. This may reduce the need for more invasive intervention (Pathmanathan et al. [99]), such as mechanical ventilation. Therefore, the most advantageous positioning should be integrated into the overall 24‐hour plan.
