Intervention reduces non-ventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia by 85%

Non-ventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia (NV-HAP) presents a serious and preventable threat to patient safety in U.S. hospitals, according to a study in the June issue of the American Journal of Nursing. Over the course of 12 months, nurse researchers studied the impact of a universal, standardized oral care protocol on 8,709 patients in an 800-bed tertiary medical center. Nurses increased the frequency of oral care from a mean of 0.95 to 2.25 times per day and saw a significant 85% reduction in the NV-HAP incidence rate on medical units receiving the intervention. The odds of developing NV-HAP were 7.1 times higher on the medical control versus the intervention units. The frequency of oral care on the studied surgical units rose from a mean of 1.18 to 2.02 times per day, and the intervention produced a 56% reduction in the NV-HAP incidence rate.