American Journal of Advances in Nursing Research

EFFECTIVENESS OF TWO APPROACHES OF ORAL HEALTHCARE INTERVENTIONS TO MINIMIZE VENTILATOR ASSOCIATED PNEUMONIA [VAP] STATUS AMONG MECHANICALLY VENTILATED PATIENTS IN SELECTED HOSPITALS, MANGALURU

Neena Mariam Jose*and Larissa Martha Sams

neenaabyan@gmail.com

Ventilator Associated Pneumonia, Oral healthcare interventions, Chlorhexidine, Sodium bicarbonate, Soft bristle paediatric toothbrush.

The aim of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of two approaches of oral healthcare interventions to minimize Ventilator Associated Pneumonia [VAP] status among mechanically ventilated patients in selected hospitals, Mangaluru. An experimental approach was adopted to determine the effectiveness of oral healthcare interventions among patients on mechanical ventilation admitted in Intensive Care Units of selected hospitals at Mangaluru. Purposive sampling technique was adopted to select the sample and first 25 sample were allocated to experimental group I, second 25 to experimental group II and the next 25 were allocated to control group. Group I received oral healthcare with sodium bicarbonate and tooth brush, group II received oral healthcare with chlorhexidine and tooth brush while control group received the routine oral healthcare. Data was collected by using demographic and clinical proforma, oral swab culture, Oral Mucositis Assessment Scale (OMAS) and Clinical Pulmonary Infection Score (CPIS) in the Intensive Care Units of two multi speciality private medical college hospitals- A.J. Hospital and Research Centre, Father Muller Medical College Hospital.There was a significant difference in the oral status in experimental group I (t=2.419, p<0.05) between day 1, day 2 and day 3 and there was a highly significant difference in the oral status in experimental group II (t=2.846, p<0.05) between day 1, day 2 and day 3. There was no significant difference in the oral status in control group (t=0.265, p=0.719) before, during and after interventions. There was a significant difference in the CPIS score (F = 4.023, p< 0.05) between group I, group II and control group. The findings suggest that oral healthcare programme significantlyreduces VAP infection rate. Oral healthcare with chlorhexidine and tooth brushing is more effective in minimizing the VAP incidence than sodium bicarbonate.