Evaluation of the effect of the use of ventilator associated pneumonia(VAP) prevention package on the development of VİP and investigation of the relationship between nurses' knowledge levels

VAP, which is one of the healthcare associated (SHI) infections, is a hospital infection that develops at least 48 hours after ventilation in a patient who did not have pneumonia during Mechanical Ventilation (MV) application. Since the VAP incidence is accepted as a quality indicator in the health care system, care packages have been developed to prevent these infections, and it has been shown that infections, especially VAP, can be prevented and reduced. The research is a prospective-descriptive study conducted to evaluate the effect of the use of VAP prevention package applied to patients hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) on the development of VAP and to examine the relationship between the knowledge levels of ICU nurses. The universe of the research is intubated patients (N=300) in Düzce University Health Practice and Research Center, using the VIP prevention package, hospitalized in Internal Medicine ICU, Anesthesia ICU, Neurosurgery ICU and all nurses working in these ICUs (n=41). Sampling calculation method was not used. Sixty-three patients who were hospitalized in these three ICUs between December 2019 and May 2020 and who received MV support were included in the study. All nurses (N=41) in the population were reached. In the study, patient data were collected with the "VAP Prevention Package" used in the ICU, while the data of nurses were collected with a questionnaire developed by the researcher. Frequency, percentage values and descriptive statistics were used in the analysis of the data. There was no significant relationship (p> 0.05) between patients' age, gender and hospitalization diagnoses and VAP development, while hospitalization (p <0.01), number of days on MV (p <0.01) and days of stay in the ward There was a statistically significant relationship with the number (p <0.05). While 25,2% of the patients included in the study were VAP positive in 2018, the rate of being VAP positive in 2019 was 20,6% with a 4,6% decrease. However, this decrease was not found to be statistically significant as a result of the Chi-Square test applied (p> 0.05). While there was no significant relationship between the age groups and gender of the nurses and their level of awareness about the VAP package (p> 0.05), it was found that the awareness levels of those with a high level of education were significantly higher (p <0.05). As a result of the survey, the average score of awareness of the nurses regarding the care package was found to be 64.63. According to the official data received from the institution, the VIP rate for the last 6 months of 2018 is 25.2%. In our study, the rate of VAP was found to be 20,6%. In our study, there was a 4,6% decrease in the VAP rate compared to the previous year, but this decrease was not found significant as a result of the Chi-Square test applied. Although this decrease in the VAP rate was not statistically significant, it was determined that there could be a decrease in the ventilator-associated pneumonia rate when the VAP care package was applied effectively. It was seen that the knowledge of the nurses about the care package was also at a moderate level. Keywords: Care Package, Knowledge Level, Nurse, Intensive Care Unit, Ventilator Associated Pneumonia