Teaching strategies to reduce VAP at Mulago Hospital: A capstone project

Mulago National Referral Hospital (Mulago), in the sub-Saharan African country of Uganda, is one of the largest hospitals in East Africa. Continuing education requirements for nurses working in the ICU at Mulago are not formalized, and teaching preferences for nurses here at not well-understood. Ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) is a global problem, but the incidence and prevalence of the disease is not well-documented in the developing world. Undoubtedly, nursing interventions play a significant role in the prevention of VAP, but education on evidence-based bundle approaches in countries such as Uganda is not well-understood. Active teaching methods, such as posters and lectures, and passive teaching methods, such as posters alone, have been used to teach evidence-based practices to numerous populations, but their application for teaching VAP prevention in Uganda has not been documented. By using Kurt Lewin's Theory of Planned Change (TPC) to guide an educational change, nursing experts from western countries will identify future change agents, deliver active education through posters and lectures, solicit buy-in from stakeholders, and evaluate change for evidence-based practice changes for VAP prevention at Mulago through a pre-test/post-test design. By implementing this Capstone project, Mulago ICU nurses have the potential to drive change and influence future continuing education efforts in this unique and challenging clinical setting.