A study to Assess the Knowledge Regarding the Care of Patients on Mechanical Ventilation and Prevention of VAP among Nursing Students of a Selected Nursing College Saritha A S Tutor, College of Nursing, Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, India Online published on 21 February, 2019. Abstract Introduction Ventilator Associated Pneumonia is the commonest nosocomial infection diagnosed in ICU and in spite of advances in diagnostic technique and management it remains a common cause of hospital mortality and morbidity.1 Purpose It is important for the nurses to foresee the complications and prevent them which arise during the care of patients on mechanical ventilator. Nurses should possess a thorough knowledge about the mechanical ventilator, the settings and maintenance and as well as the precautions that are to be taken while providing caring to the client on ventilator. Setting of the Study Selected Nursing College affiliated to a Tertiary Care Hospital Sample Students attending Basic BSc Nursing course (2nd and 3rd year) with equal distribution of 21 students from each batch. Result The study revealed that maximum 22 (52.4%) subjects had good knowledge, 14 (33.33%) subjects had excellent knowledge, 6 (14.3%) students had average knowledge on care of patients on mechanical ventilation. The study also revealed that maximum 24 (57.1%) students had good knowledge, 2 (4.8%) students had excellent knowledge, 15(35.7%) students had average knowledge and 1 (2.4%) student had poor knowledge regarding VAP prevention. Thus the study showed that third year students had more knowledge than the second year students regarding care of patients on mechanical ventilator and VAP prevention but the results were statistically insignificant. Conclusion The study found that the majority of the subjects under the study had an above average knowledge about VAP prevention and the care of a patient on mechanical ventilation. The study also found out that third years had a better knowledge regarding VAP prevention and the care of a mechanically ventilated patient as compared to second year basic BSc which also indicates the role of experience in the knowledge improvement Top Keywords VAP, Ventilator, Tracheostomy. Top |