Effect of Clinical Guidelines on Nurses’ performance Concerning Ventilator Associated Pneumonia Prevention among High-risk Neonates

Background: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among high-risk neonates in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). These infants, often premature or suffering from critical illnesses, require mechanical ventilation, which inherently increases their risk of developing VAP. Aim: to evaluate the effect of clinical guidelines on nurses’ performance concerning ventilator associated pneumonia prevention among high-risk neonates. Subject and Method: Quasi-experimental research design (pre – post program) was utilized in current study. The study was conducted at the neonatal intensive care unit at Misr-El-Hora General Hospital which is associated with the Ministry of health. A convenient sample was utilized in this study; it was include all nurses on duty during the study (45) with various educational categories. Two tools were used in study, tool (I): Self-administered questionnaire and tool (II): Nurses practices about ventilator associated pneumonia. The program was carried out within about seven months from June 2024 to December 2024. Results: More than half of the studied nurses their age were 25< 30 years old. Before program, near than three quarters of nurses had poor knowledge level and after one month of program, the majority of them had good knowledge level and the majority of the studied nurses were incompetent level before program and almost all of them were competent levels according to their total practices level regarding ventilator associated pneumonia prevention among high-risk neonates. Conclusion: there was positive statistically significant correlation between total knowledge scores and total practices scores before and after one month of program. Recommendations: Implement Continuous Educational Program and workshop about the evidence based guidelines to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia.