Prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia: Use of the care bundle approach.

BACKGROUND

The ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) care bundle consists of evidence-based practices to improve the outcomes of patients receiving mechanical ventilatory therapy. This study aimed to investigate the implementation of the care bundle on VAP rates in this quasiexperimental study.

METHODS

The protocol of this study consisted of 3 phases. In the initial phase, observations were made to determine the VAP care bundle adherence of intensive care unit (ICU) nurses. In the second phase, education was provided to ICU nurses on the subject of the VAP care bundle. For the third phase, the effect of VAP care bundle adherence on the VAP rates after education was investigated.

RESULTS

The nurses' VAP care bundle adherence improved after education from 10.8% (n = 152) to 89.8% (n = 1,324) and showed statistically significant improvement (P = .0001 and P < .05). In this study, the VAP rates were determined as 15.91/10 ventilator-days before education and 8.50/10 ventilator days after education. It was found that the VAP rates after the education period were significantly lower than the VAP rates before education.

CONCLUSION

VAP care bundle implementation with education prepared according to evidence-based guidelines decreased VAP rates. Thus, implementation of the VAP care bundle on mechanically ventilated patients care is recommended.