Oxygen Therapy and Airway Basics for Ward Staff
Give oxygen correctly, recognise a compromised airway, and act within your scope.
1. Program overview
Oxygen is a drug and is routinely given without a target, a prescription or a review. This course covers safe oxygen therapy — target saturation ranges including the hypercapnic patient, device selection and actual delivered concentrations, humidification, monitoring and weaning — alongside basic airway assessment: recognising obstruction, simple positioning and adjunct manoeuvres, and knowing precisely where your scope ends and escalation begins. Written for ward and outpatient staff rather than for anaesthetic or critical care practitioners.
2. Why this program
- Oxygen treated as a prescribed drug with targets.
- Device selection matched to actual delivered concentration.
- Airway content kept strictly within ward scope.
- Includes the hypercapnic patient.
3. Who it is for
Nurse · Allied Health · Physician · Student · Paramedic
4. Program objectives
- Explain why oxygen requires a target range and a prescription
- Select an oxygen delivery device appropriate to the required concentration
- Apply appropriate saturation targets including for hypercapnic patients
- Monitor and wean oxygen therapy safely
- Recognise the signs of airway compromise
- Apply positioning and simple adjuncts within your scope of practice
5. Learning outcomes
- Select an appropriate oxygen device and flow for a described requirement
- Apply the correct saturation target to a described patient
- Recognise airway obstruction from described signs
- Apply a simple airway manoeuvre appropriate to scope
- Identify the escalation point for a compromised airway
- Evaluate an oxygen prescription for appropriateness
6. Curriculum
Module 1: Oxygen Is a Drug
- Oxygen Is a Drug
Module 2: Devices and Delivered Concentration
- Devices and Delivered Concentration
Module 3: The Hypercapnic Patient
- The Hypercapnic Patient
Module 4: Recognising Airway Compromise
- Recognising Airway Compromise
Module 5: Within Your Scope
- Within Your Scope
7. Duration and structure
Total study hours: 2.5 — 2h content + 0.5h assessment. Duration is expressed in study hours only.
9. What you receive
This certificate confirms completion of Oxygen Therapy and Airway Basics for Ward Staff. Duration is expressed in study hours.
10. Delivery format
Self-paced · start any time · any device · lifetime access to the enrolled version.