Multifaceted bundle interventions shown effective in reducing VAP rates in our multidisciplinary ICUs

Ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) remains a worldwide harm associated with hospital acquired infection. Our VAP rate at King Abdulaziz Medical City was 4.0 per 1 000 patient days at baseline. All regulatory bodies continue to emphasize the importance of reducing these infections and include a guideline of practice recommendations to address them, notably the VAP bundle by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Our baseline compliance was low and measured to be 83%; this was perceived as an opportunity to work on revising our interventions in the ICUs. An improvement team gathered in 2013, and following the “model of improvement” methodology, along with a sequence of parallel PDSAs, they were able to increase compliance with the care bundle and sustain it above 95% for more than one year. This translated in a decrease in the VAP rate from 4.0 to 0.8 in all different multidisciplinary ICUs.