Briefly describe your rationale for your topic selection. Include the scope of the issue/problem. Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia

Briefly describe your rationale for your topic selection. Include the scope of the issue/problem.

Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia is a leading cause of mortality, morbidity, increased medical costs, prolonged hospital stays and poor health outcomes across healthcare settings in the United States. It particularly occurs among hospitalized patients in the ICU between 48-72 hours after mechanical ventilation or intubation. Its primary characteristics include signs of systemic infection, sputum changes, and continuous infiltration.  As the contributor of half of all the hospital-acquired pneumonia infections, its prevalence has been estimated to be between 8-40% with the highest risk occurring within the 1st five days of admission.  It has contributed to a reduction in patient safety and made healthcare organizations inefficient to execute the role of providing high quality, efficient and effective care. This explains why it is vital to define the clinical issue and its causes to develop effective intervention measures to prevent or reduce the incidences of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia.