title: Critical care nurses' knowledge of measures to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia.
abstract: We queried critical care nurses at a hospital about their level of knowledge of interventions designed to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). The mean score was 7.87 ± 1.36 (65.6%) among 133 questionnaires. Multivariate analysis revealed that intensive care unit (ICU) license (P = .03) and ranking of registered nurses (RNs) (P = .041) were significantly associated with higher knowledge level (≥8 correct answers of 12 items) of respondents. This surveillance study revealed that non-ICU-licensed nurses and junior RNs lack the knowledge necessary to prevent VAP in critical care settings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Chi Mei Medical Center, Liouying, Tainan, Taiwan; Department of Nursing, Min-Hwei College of Health Care Management, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsin-Lan
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Chi Mei Medical Center, Liouying, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chih-Cheng
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Electronic address: a885019@kmu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Li-Yu
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003422:Critical Care; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D009726:Nurses; D053717:Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011361:Professional Competence; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Critical care nurses; Knowledge; Ventilator-associated pneumonia