 This project builds upon a significant North American study that found a substantial decrease in the duration of mechanical ventilation, length of stay and rate of tracheostomy insertion following the implementation of a structured sedation protocol by nurses. However an exact replication of the protocol is not possible due to the lack of drug availability in Australia and the preferred drug regimes of RMH intensive care consultants. In addition, there are very few studies that document patients memories of their experience being ventilated whilst sedated, despite documented discomfort such as anxiety, panic and difficulty synchronizing with the ventilator. There is a similar lack of literature on staff perceptions during the implementation of a multidisciplinary sedation protocol. 