Background: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is considered the most common nosocomial infection in the intensive care unit (ICU) and is also a major threat to the recovery of patients receiving mechanical ventilation. It is usually caused by aspiration of contaminated secretions or stomach contents and may be bacterial, viral and fungal. Reduction in the incidence rate of VAP ultimately decreases the associated burden of illness. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) recommended the practice of bundles, simple sets of evidence-based practices that, when performed collectively and reliably, have been proven to improve patient outcomes. This pre- experimental study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of structure teaching programme on Knowledge Regarding Preventive Management of Mechanical Ventilator Associated Pneumonia among IInd Year G.N.M. Nursing Students in Selected Nursing Schools, Dharwad.

Methods: A quantitative approach with one group pre-test & post-test design was adopted for the study. The samples from the selected nursing schools, Dharwad were selected using non probability purposive sampling technique. The sample consists of 50 students. The tools used for data collection were structured Knowledge questionnaire and structure teaching programme was developed. The data analysis was done by using both descriptive and inferential statistics.

Results: The mean percentage of post-test knowledge score (86.45%) was higher than the mean percentage of pre- test knowledge score (43.45%). The calculated ‘t’ value is 26.785 for knowledge. It shows a significant difference between mean pre-test and post-test knowledge scores. There was significant association found between Age, gender, religion and language understand with post-test knowledge score. No significant association between other sociodemographic variables and post-test knowledge scores. The main findings of pre-test indicate that IInd year. G.N.M. nursing students had below average level of knowledge about Preventive management of mechanical ventilator associated pneumonia.

The effectiveness of structure teaching programme was tested in terms of differences between pre-test and post- test scores and the findings showed that it was statistically significant at 0.001 level of significance. The findings of the study proved that structure teaching programme is an effective teaching strategy in improving the knowledge of the IInd year G.N.M. nursing students regarding preventive management of mechanical ventilator associated pneumonia. Thus, the structure teaching programme given by the investigator helped the IInd year G.N.M. nursing students to improve their knowledge.

Conclusion: The knowledge of IInd year G.N.M. nursing students was inadequate (43.45%) before administration of structure teaching programme. Knowledge of IInd year G.N.M. nursing students was (86.45%) after administration of structure teaching programme. There is significance difference between mean pre-test and post- test knowledge score of IInd year G.N.M. nursing students with the enhancement of mean score (43%) regarding preventive management of mechanical ventilator associated pneumonia. Structure teaching programme is also helpful in improving the knowledge of participants and it is proved to be one of the effective teaching methods.