TY - JOUR AU - Álvarez-Lerma, Francisco AU - Sánchez García, M. AU - for Project “Zero, Task Force of Experts PY - 2018 TI - “The multimodal approach for ventilator-associated pneumonia prevention”—requirements for nationwide implementation JF - Annals of Translational Medicine; Vol 6, No 21 (November 13, 2018): Annals of Translational Medicine (Focus on “Novel Aspects in Ventilator-associated Pneumonia”) Y2 - 2018 KW - N2 - The multimodal approach for ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) prevention has been shown to be a successful strategy in reducing VAP rates in many intensive care units (ICU) in some countries. The simultaneous application of several measures or “bundles” to reduce VAP rates has achieved a higher impact than the progressive implementation of the individual interventions. The ultimate objective of recommendation bundles is their integration in the culture of routine healthcare of the staff in charge of ventilated patients for accomplished rates to persist over time. The noteworthy elements of this new strategy include the selection of the individual recommendations of the bundle, education of care workers (HCW) in the culture of patient safety, audit of compliance with the recommendations, commitment of the hospital management to support implementation, nomination and empowerment of local leaders of the projects in ICUs, both physicians and nurses, and the continuous collection of VAP episodes. The implementation of this new strategy is not an easy task, as both its inherent strength and important barriers to its application have become evident, which need to be overcome for maximal reduction of VAP rates. UR - https://atm.amegroups.org/article/view/21829