Recent studies have shown that educational interventions for ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) prevention may result in positive outcomes in intensive care units. However, other studies investigating this kind of intervention have produced inconsistent results. Thus this paper reports a protocol for systematic review and planned meta-analysis to investigate the association of instituted VAP educational interventions with clinician learning and patient outcomes. In this review, the authors will identify relevant citations from electronic databases, reference lists, and other sources; screen articles against predetermined eligibility criteria; appraise each study using the Cochrane Collaboration’s risk of bias assessment tools and combine acquired evidence using the meta-analytic approach. The results of this review are crucial to assist clinicians and policy-makers in making well-informed decisions regarding VAP prevention practices for mechanically ventilated patients. This review protocol followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses for Protocols 2015 guidelines and was registered with PROSPERO as CRD42016051561.
Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated