Soar High with the 2025 CFRN Test – Elevate Your Nursing Career to New Heights!

Synchronized Intermittent Mandatory Ventilation (SIMV) is a mode of mechanical ventilation that allows the patient to receive both mandatory breaths preset by the ventilator and spontaneous breaths initiated by the patient. This mode supports the patient's efforts, as it synchronizes the mandatory breaths to patient-inhalation efforts. The incorporation of spontaneous breathing helps to maintain respiratory muscle strength and comfort while meeting the set tidal volume and frequency parameters during the mandatory breaths.

This means that in SIMV, the ventilator provides a baseline level of mechanical support while allowing the patient to breathe spontaneously in between the mandatory breaths. This blend supports weaning from mechanical ventilation by facilitating the patient's ability to take unassisted breaths, improving their comfort and reducing ventilatory dependence.

The other options do not accurately describe SIMV: it does not exclusively deliver mandatory breaths, nor does it provide continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) solely. While it allows for spontaneous breaths, it does respond to patient-initiated efforts, contradicting the idea that it offers no patient-initiated breaths, as this is a defining feature of SIMV.