Critical Care Clinicians’ Knowledge of Evidence-Based Guidelines for Preventing Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia

Abstract

Ventilator-associated pneumonia is the most common hospital-acquired infection among patients receiving mechanical ventilation in an intensive care unit. Different initiatives for the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia have been developed and recommended. To evaluate knowledge of critical care providers (physicians, nurses, and respiratory therapists in the intensive care unit) about evidence-based guidelines for preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia. Ten physicians, 41 nurses, and 18 respiratory therapists working in the intensive care unit of a major tertiary care university hospital center completed an anonymous questionnaire on 9 nonpharmacological guidelines for prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia. The mean (SD) total scores of physicians, nurses, and respiratory therapists were 80.2% (11.4%), 78.1% (10.6%), and 80.5% (6%), respectively, with no significant differences between them. Furthermore, within each category of health care professionals, the scores of professionals with less than 5 years of intensive care experience did not differ significantly from the scores of professionals with more than 5 years of intensive care experience. A health care delivery model that includes physicians, nurses, and respiratory therapists in the intensive care unit can result in an adequate level of knowledge on evidence-based nonpharmacological guidelines for the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia.