Ventilator associated pneumonia research critique
The study is about assessing the knowledge of nurses on how to prevent the occurrence of pneumonia which is common in hospitalized intensive care unit patients who are undergoing mechanical ventilation. According to the author of the article, there is a lack of updated information regarding which preventative practices are being used in hospitals across the United States to prevent common device-related infections such as pneumonia in mechanically ventilated ICU patients. The goal of the research is to bridge the gap between knowledge on how best to translate the research which is being carried out in health care into practice and find out the reason why hospitals chose whether or not to use some preventative practices. The article tries to bridge the gap between one of the proposed research endeavors and the successful translation of the tried and tested prevention methods and the resulting decrease in hospital acquired infections of pneumonia among the target group.
The author establishes the significance of the study by delving into how ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is an ongoing challenge especially among the critical care nurses who are using current evidence-based prevention methods in order to decrease the incidence and prevalence of the disease. According to the author, mechanical ventilation (intubation) prevents effective cough reflexes and slows down the mucociliary clearing of the secretions. This causes leakage and micro aspiration of disease causing bacteria into the lungs of the patient. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
The purpose of the study was to assess or determine the level of knowledge among nurses in relation to prevention practices for pneumonia which is common in mechanically ventilated patients who are admitted to the ICU. In terms of research questions, the author of the article tries to answer three research questions which are: What is the level of knowledge that nurses have concerning the care practices that involve pneumonia that is associated with mechanical ventilation? What is the role of the nurses in providing care to critically ill patients? What is the importance of recognizing the clinical findings so as to establish a diagnosis?
Yes, the research questions and the purpose of the study were related to the problem. The research problem was to find out the knowledge of nurses on preventative strategies for hospital acquired pneumonia which is common in hospitalized patients. The research questions asked by the author of the article effectively capture the basic concept of the research problem and even further add additional data concerning the role of the nurses in preventing pneumonia infections associated with mechanical ventilation of ICU patients. The research questions help the readers of the article to narrow down on to particular aspects of the research.
In terms of the mode of study, the author uses both qualitative and quantitative methods in trying to answer the research questions raised by the study. Qualitative information is in the form of studies which use scientific methods to make the connection between the level of knowledge of the nurses and the incidence of hospital acquired pneumonia in hospitalized mechanically ventilated patients. Quantitative methods involve pointing out different types of studies which have used a higher number of research targets in the quest to understand the connection between the knowledge levels of nurses and the incidence of the infections (Niederman et al., 2016).
The research uses both qualitative and quantitative methods in attempting to answer the research questions. The qualitative method used in this research involves determining the level of knowledge from nurses by asking questions in order to ascertain their understanding of methods that are used to prevent pneumonia which is acquired as a result of using mechanical ventilation for the hospitalized patients. Results obtained satisfactorily answer the research questions and hence the qualitative method is appropriate in answering the questions raised b the researcher.
The author of the article identified a specific perspective from which the study was developed and this is by seeking to gauge the knowledge levels of nurses who take care of patients undergoing mechanical ventilation in the ICU. Furthermore, the author seeks to find out the role of the nurses in helping to curb the incidence of the hospital acquired pneumonia. The author cited both qualitative and quantitative studies that have been carried out on the research area. These studies were used by the author to build a rationale for carrying out this particular study and they help the reader to identify gaps in knowledge which the author was trying to fill.
The references used by the author are quite recent and none of them is older than five years. This is particularly important since it enables the researcher to build one research that has been recently carried out by others which helps to bridge gaps in knowledge (Lynch et al,. 2017). The author identified the weakness behind the recent studies as lack of incorporation of the nurse’s perspective since nurses are an important part in trying to control the spread of hospital-acquired infections. Literature review in the article was adequate to build a logical argument. The researcher does not develop a framework or diagram as part of the study findings since the study does not require the use of such methods in describing the methodology followed for the research.
The study findings show that nurses who work in the ICU and are responsible for taking care of patients undergoing mechanical ventilation have little knowledge on the methods used to prevent the spread of hospital acquired pneumonia. Apart from that, the study shows that nurses have a role to play in preventing the spread of hospital acquired pneumonia in patients undergoing mechanical ventilation. The impact of the research findings to nursing as profession is that more training and sensitization needs to be done in order to boost the knowledge of nurses on the methods that can be used to prevent the spread of hospital acquired pneumonia. Practicing nurses also need to be sensitized on the importance of observing prevention practices in preventing the spread of pneumonia among the patients undergoing mechanical ventilation especially in the ICU (Kalil et al., 2016).
In terms of ethical consideration the study was approved by an Institutional Review Board and the privacy of patients was ensured. There were ethical considerations regarding the treatment of patients who are undergoing mechanical ventilation.
In conclusion the study shows that nurses taking care of patients in the ICU undergoing mechanical ventilation have little knowledge on prevention practices of hospital acquired pneumonia. The nurses have an important role to play in preventing the spread of the infection and it is important that the training and practicing nurses be taught on the methods in use for the prevention hospital acquired pneumonia among mechanically ventilated patients in the ICU.
References
Yousuf, A. (2017). Hospital-acquired pneumonia. Acute Medicine: A Practical Guide to the Management of Medical Emergencies, 396.
Niederman, M. S., Lee, P. S., Barriere, S. L., Sherman, C., & Bruss, J. B. (2016). Clinical Efficacy And Safety Of Telavancin In Hospital-Acquired And Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia (HAP/VAP) Patients With Monomicrobial S. Aureus Infection. In A62. CLINICAL ASPECTS OF CAP, HCAP, HAP, AND VAP (pp. A2135-A2135). American Thoracic Society.
Lynch, J. P., Zhanel, G. G., & Clark, N. M. (2017, June). Emergence of Antimicrobial Resistance among: Controversies and Evolving Concepts in Hospital-acquired Pneumoniapseudomonas aeruginosa: Controversies and Evolving Concepts in Hospital-acquired Pneumonia: Implications for Therapy: Controversies and Evolving Concepts in Hospital-acquired Pneumonia. In Seminars in Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 326-345). Seminars in Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Kalil, A. C., Metersky, M. L., Klompas, M., Muscedere, J., Sweeney, D. A., Palmer, L. B., … & El Solh, A. A. (2016). Management of adults with hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated pneumonia: 2016 clinical practice guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the American Thoracic Society. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 63(5), e61-e111.