Assessing the impact of an educational intervention on ventilator-associated pneumonia

ABSTRACT Ventilator-associated pneumonia is a condition of the lung parenchyma in artificially ventilated patients. Considered a public health problem, it is preventable through good evidence-based practices. This study aimed to highlight the efficacy of training in ventilator-associated pneumonia with the use of pre- and post-tests as tools to evaluate retention of the content addressed. This is a cross-sectional, exploratory and quantitative study conducted in a public hospital in the Sinos River Valley/RS in December 2019. The sample consisted of healthcare providers and supervised interns who attended training developed with audiovisual resources and rounds of talks, excluding those who failed to complete the questionnaires in the pre- and/or post-test stages composed of five questions about the endotracheal tube, headboard angle, aspiration of secretions and risk factors for and prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia. Descriptive statistical procedures, paired Student’s t-test and boxplot construction of the participants’ scores were used for data analysis. The study was composed of 45 participants with a mean age of 34.5±8.9 years, mostly women (75.6%) and nursing technicians (60%). We observed that the global average of correct answers in the pre-test questions was 28 (62.2%) and 38 (84.4%) in the post-test, expressing a 35.7% increase in correct answers after training, but this increase was statistically insignificant (p=0.103). Despite the potential benefits of the applied educational intervention, the results obtained were insignificant, contrary to our hypothesis.