Abstract

Effective airway management is a critical determinant of postoperative patient outcomes, yet evidence suggests persistent gaps in nurses’ competence in emergency airway assessment and intervention. The aim of this narrative review is to explore the basic principles of postoperative airway management, the recent trends on the technology and the major challenges that confront the nurses in the resource-poor clinical environment with a special reference to Nigeria. Peer-reviewed articles and clinical guidelines were systematically searched in three databases: MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Google Scholar, and included articles from 2015 to 2025. Findings were organised using the technique of thematic synthesis around key domains: airway obstruction and recognition, airway adjuncts and oxygenation devices, equipment and teamwork, emerging technologies and challenges to effective management. The results suggest that time pressure and suboptimal team availability and expertise, care delivery in non-theatre settings, inadequate airway triage, and equipment limitations are the biggest challenges to effective postoperative airway management. The review also focuses on new technologies such as airway triage applications, point-of-care ultrasound, video laryngoscopy, and artificial intelligence and their potential to revolutionize risk stratification and clinical decision-making. These challenges will need significant investment in structured training programmes for nurses focused on core airway skills, cost-effective and long-life airway devices and in institutionalizing the protocols of multidisciplinary teamwork. These are essential measures to prevent postoperative patients from having preventable airway emergencies and the sequelae.

Keywords: Airway management, Postoperative care, Nursing competence, Airway obstruction, Oxygenation, Patient safety,

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