Abstract
Background & Objective: Ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) is the most common nosocomial infection acquired by patients in an intensive care unit (ICU). However, there is scarce clinical data, particularly from Pakistani ICUs, regarding existing practices to prevent it. Prevention and control of VAP is said to be dependent on the nurses' knowledge and practices of ventilator care bundle (VCB), e.g., VAP prevention guidelines. We conducted this study to assess knowledge and practice of VCB by intensive care nurses of selected hospitals.
Methodology: A sample of 136 nurses, who met inclusion and exclusion criteria, were selected for this cross sectional, descriptive study. It was conducted in four tertiary care hospitals of Lahore over a period of 11 months extending, from Nov 2018 to Sep 2019. Non-probability purposive sampling technique was used. A modified knowledge-based questionnaire and a checklist was used to collect the data from the subjects. Based upon scoring system utilized, the knowledge level was categorized as; Excellent = 81-100%, Good = 61-80%, Average = 41-60%, Poor = < 40%. The practice of ventilator bundle was assessed as; satisfactory = >= 80% skills (used by Raulin D. Feria).
Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version-23 was used to analyze the data.
Results: The study findings revealed that nurses have poor knowledge of ventilator bundle with mean score of 37.5%. The mean practice score demonstrated by ICU nurses was 60.8%, which is also not satisfactory according to the criteria.
Conclusion: On the basis of the findings of the current study, we conclude that the knowledge of the ICU nurses of the sample tertiary care hospitals of Lahore about the ventilator bundle is rated poor. Their practice of the bundle also does not meet the standard criteria. Corrective measures at an appropriate level are strongly recommended.