[Ventilator-associated pneumonia among premature infants <34 weeks' gestational age in neonatal intensive care unit in China: a multicenter study]

Introducing evidence-based practice improvement in Chinese neonatal intensive care units

China has the largest population in the world. With rapid economic growth, the incidence of premature birth has shown an increasing trend and more neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) are being established across the country. However, there is substantial variability in clinical practice and variations in short- and long-term outcomes among patients in different NICUs. There remains a big gap between China and developed countries in terms of infant outcomes. The Evidence-based Practice for Improving Quality (EPIQ) is a successful model that has been implemented in NICUs across Canada to improve infant outcomes. We applied EPIQ in a single NICU in china and successfully reduced the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia, central line (CL) associated bloodstream infection (CLABSIs), and improved the breastmilk use in NICU. In the next phase, we are extending EPIQ to another 24 centers in China and have established the Chinese Neonatal Network for national collaboration, to improve infant outcomes across China.