Knowledge and Its Associated Factors Related Venti lator Associated Pneumonia Among Intensive Care Nurses: Cross-secti onal Study in Southern Province of Sri Lanka

Abstract

This study aimed to assess knowledge and its associated factors on venti lator-associated pneumonia (VAP) among intensive care nurses. This descripti ve cross-secti onal study included 164 nurses who worked in intensive care units. Data were collected through a content-validated, pretested selfadministered questi onnaire. It included parti cipants’ socio-demographic informati on and knowledgeassessing questi ons. Descripti ve stati sti cs, the Mann–Whitney U-test, and the Kruskal–Wallis test were performed. Signifi cance was accepted at alpha < 0.05. The sample was female predominant and included more undergraduate and graduate nurses than diploma nurses. The overall knowledge of VAP among nurses ranged from 82.92 to 14.86, with 75% of them achieving a score above 80%. Nurses’ knowledge of VAP was associated with their age, professional qualifi cati ons, and experiences in nursing service and intensive care units (p < 0.05). Nurses had sati sfactory knowledge of VAP. However, gaps exist. Nurses’ knowledge is associated with their on-the-job training and professional qualifi cati ons.