As health care workers, we are charged with keeping patients safe in our care. Events that formerly were considered part of an unavoidable consequence of treatment, such as hospital-acquired infections, are no longer considered acceptable. Patients expect us to use best practice interventions that lead to optimal outcomes and minimize the incidence of hospital-acquired conditions. Promoting and disseminating evidence-based interventions that optimize outcomes is difficult when best practice is yet to be identified. In this article, we will explore what is known about prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in children. Are the interventions currently recommended for adults appropriate for children?

Ventilator-associated pneumonia has been a challenge to diagnose as the defining criteria have yet to be universally accepted. The most common definition is that of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); this definition describes VAP as pneumonia occurring in a patient who has been intubated and received mechanical...

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