Knowledge and practices of critical care health professionals related to ventilator associated pneumonia in tertiary care hospitals of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

Objective: To assess knowledge and practices of critical care health professionals related to ventilator associated pneumonia.
Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted at eight tertiary care public and private hospitals of Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Pakistan, from September 2015 to March 2016, and comprised healthcare professionals. Stratified random sampling was used. Data was collected using close-ended validated questionnaire. SPSS 22 was used for data analysis.
Results: Of the 153 participants, 45(29.4%) were doctors, 91(59.4%) were nurses and 17(11.1%) were respiratory therapists. The overall mean age was 31±8.14 years. The overall mean knowledge and practice scores regarding prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia were 11.14±3.12 and 8.83±1.53, respectively. The mean knowledge score was 11.77±3.84 for physicians, 10.84± 2.91 for nurses and 10.82±1.94 for respiratory therapists. However, the best practice scores were seen in the respiratory therapists 9.64±0.78 (p=0.008).
Conclusions: The majority of the participants had adequate knowledge and even better practices, particularly respiratory therapists.