Does educating nurses with ventilator-associated pneumonia prevention guidelines improve their compliance?

Background: This study aimed to compare the compliance with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP)-prevention guidelines between nurses who underwent an intensive educational program and those who did not, and to investigate other factors that influence nurses' compliance.

Method: A 2-group posttest design was used to examine the effect of the VAP-prevention guidelines education on nurses' compliance. Participants were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups.

Results: The overall nurses' compliance scores were moderate. There was no statistically significant difference in compliance between the nurses who received VAP education and those who did not (t[100] = -1.43; P = .15). The number of beds in the unit and the nurse-patient ratio were found to influence nurses' compliance.

Conclusion: Education in VAP-prevention guidelines will not improve nurses' compliance unless other confounding factors, such as their workload, are controlled. It is imperative to reduce nurses' workload to improve their compliance and enhance the effectiveness of education.