Impact of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia Preventative Measures and Ventilator Bundle Care in a Tertiary Care Hospital's Adult Intensive Care Unit.

Background: The mitigation of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a vital undertaking in safeguarding patient well-being. The research aimed to evaluate the impact of a multidisciplinary, comprehensive monitoring approach on VAP incidence in a tertiary medical-surgical-trauma critical care unit.

Methodology: The research was conducted within an adult medical-surgical ICU from June 2021 to December 2022. VAP data were collected by prospective targeted surveillance in accordance with the guidelines provided by the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In contrast, a cross-sectional design was used to gather bundle data, according to the defined methodology of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), and the rate of variation in admission prior to the bundle's installation was evaluated.

Result: The features of ventilated patients in adult medical-surgical ICUs were studied between 2021 and 2022. Regarding demographics, men comprised 42.6% and 45.3% of VAP patients and 65.3% and 50.7% of bundle care patients, respectively. Notably, 33.1% of patients in VAP and 54.5% in bundle care were over 60 years old. Clinical indicators such as median age (12.6 vs. 8 months for non-VAP vs. VAP patients), antibiotic usage (65% vs. 99% for non-VAP vs. VAP patients), and risk factors like trauma diagnosis (HR: 2.59, 95% CI: 2.07-3.23), and accidental extubation (HR: 4.11, 95% CI: 1.93-8.73) differed significantly between the bundle and non-bundle care groups. A significant increase in bundle compliance was seen from 90% in 2021 to 97% in 2022 (P-value <0.001), which helped to lower VAP rates and highlight the need for ongoing quality improvement in ICU treatment.

Conclusion: The use of ventilator bundles at a tertiary care hospital resulted in improvements in ventilator utilization, with an approximate increase of 20% and VAP rates of over 70% for adult critical patients.