The goal of ventilatory therapy in the patient with well-controlled elevated intracranial pressure is to maintain normal oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. Therefore, the nurse advocates to increase the FiO₂ to raise the patient’s PaO₂, which is low. The patient has a metabolic acidosis (as evidenced by slightly acidotic pH, low-normal CO₂, low HCO_3-, and a base excess of -7. Therefore, the patient’s metabolic status should be improved rather than increasing the rate of the ventilator. Decreasing the ventilator rate is also not appropriate because the low-normal CO₂ is helping to keep the pH from becoming too acidotic. The patient’s PaO₂ is low, so decreasing the FiO₂ is inappropriate.