• Mohamad F El-Khatib, Salah Zeineldine, Chakib Ayoub, Ahmad Husari, and Pierre K Bou-Khalil.
• Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
• Am. J. Crit. Care. 2010 May 1;19(3):272-6.

BackgroundVentilator-associated pneumonia is the most common hospital-acquired infection among patients receiving mechanical ventilation in an intensive care unit. Different initiatives for the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia have been developed and recommended.ObjectiveTo evaluate knowledge of critical care providers (physicians, nurses, and respiratory therapists in the intensive care unit) about evidence-based guidelines for preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia.MethodsTen physicians, 41 nurses, and 18 respiratory therapists working in the intensive care unit of a major tertiary care university hospital center completed an anonymous questionnaire on 9 nonpharmacological guidelines for prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia.ResultsThe mean (SD) total scores of physicians, nurses, and respiratory therapists were 80.2% (11.4%), 78.1% (10.6%), and 80.5% (6%), respectively, with no significant differences between them. Furthermore, within each category of health care professionals, the scores of professionals with less than 5 years of intensive care experience did not differ significantly from the scores of professionals with more than 5 years of intensive care experience.ConclusionsA health care delivery model that includes physicians, nurses, and respiratory therapists in the intensive care unit can result in an adequate level of knowledge on evidence-based nonpharmacological guidelines for the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia.

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