2006 OPEN FORUM Abstracts
Results of a an Education Program Used in the Reduction of Ventilator Associated Pneumonia
Dan Wells, RRT,
RN, Jenni Raake, MBA, RRT, NPS, Rick Amato, RRT, NPS
Cincinnati Childrens
Hospital Medical Center
Backround: Efforts at fighting Ventilator Associated
Pneumonia (VAP) require intensive education for therapists, nurses, and
physicians working in critical care units.
We created an atmosphere with an awareness of factors contributing to
VAP to see if it would reduce our rates of VAP.
Methods: Our efforts included aggressive education
focusing on mouth care, handwashing, head of bed position, and use of in-line
suction catheters to reduce breaking into the circuit. We educated therapists, nurses, and
physicians on each component of our "ventilator care bundle" and changes in
practices were made to focus on reducing VAP.
Results: Our VAP rate showed a baseline rate of 6.4
per 1000 patient days. After education was provided, our rate dropped to 1.8 per thousand patient days.
Conclusions: Education is a vital and motivating way of
improving patient care, and was successful in reducing Ventilator Associated
Pneumonia in our hospital.