Nurses' knowledge of evidence-based guidelines for prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia in critical care areas: a pre and post test design

Ventilator associated pneumonia [VAP] is a common hospital acquired pneumonia in ventilated patients. VAP is associated with increased morbidity, mortality duration of hospitalization and cost of treatment. Critical care nurses are usually unaware of evidence based preventive guidelines for VAP, resulting in negative impact on all aspects of patient care. This study investigated the impact of a 5-hour teaching module on nurses' knowledge to practice evidence based guidelines for the prevention of VAP. This study was conducted at a private tertiary care teaching hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. Single group pre-test post-test design was used. Forty nurses were included in the study. The knowledge of nurses was assessed before, immediately after and 4 weeks after the intervention. The final sample [n=40] was selected on the basis of the set inclusion criteria. The demographic data sheet was used to collect relevant information about the participants. Knowledge was assessed through a self-developed validated tool, consisting of multiple choice questions. The difference in knowledge was analysed through repeated measures of analysis of variance. The mean scores at 3 time points were compared using the Tukey's multiple comparison procedure. Knowledge scores of participants increased significantly after the educational intervention in the first post-test; however, there was a decline in the score in post-test 2. The 5-hour teaching module significantly enhanced nurses' knowledge towards evidence based guidelines for the prevention of VAP. Further research is needed to assess the impact of training on nursing practice and to explore factors affecting attitudinal change

How important is patient privacy? a reflection

Privacy is a basic human right; however, a patient's right to privacy is often violated because health care providers do not fulfill their ethical and professional responsibilities. There is an immediate need to preserve patients' privacy by health care professionals; a standardized policy on patients' privacy is important. This paper aims to analyze the significance of patients' privacy in health care. A case scenario of a pregnant woman from an antenatal setting has been integrated to support the concept of privacy in promoting and advocating patients' right

Domestic violence among Pakistani women: an insight into literature

The objectives of this search were to estimate the burden of domestic violence, its contributing factors and strategies based on literature preview for the prevention and control of domestic violence. Published literature about domestic violence in Pakistan during the years 1998 to 2008 was analyzed and scrutinized. This article is based on the searched result of 200 articles published in the English language from which finally 13 articles were selected. Search terms included [Violence], [Domestic violence], [Domestic violence in Pakistan] and [Strategies and Recommendations for Prevention of Domestic violence]. According to these studies, the intimate partners' violence is reported as in the range of 30% to 79%. In Pakistan, there are some notable factors which make women prone to domestic violence like women's low education, low empowerment, existing misconceptions about Islamic thoughts and traditional norms, misuse of women in the name of honor justifying honor killing, poverty and existence of unjust traditional dowry system in the society. The most common points made by researchers for prevention and control are 1]the need to recognize the domestic violence against women as an important issue 2]enhancement of educational and health facilities for the prevention and control of violence with combined awareness programs by governmental or non-governmental organizations and 3]enactment and promulgation of comprehensive laws to combat this problem. Our work reveals that a significantly large proportion of women suffer with domestic violence and the factors identified are preventable and modifiable to a greater extent. Further research is also needed in this regard