¶ … Theory In critically ill adults (p), how does the daily use of chlorohexidine (I) compared to sterile water reduce VAP (ventilator-associated pneumonia) (O) during hospitalized stay (T)?

Roy's Adaptation Model (RAM) states that the "nursing process is a problem solving approach for gathering data, identifying the capacities and needs of the human adaptive system, selecting and implementing approaches for nursing care, and evaluation the outcome of care provided" ("Application of Roy's Adaptation Model," 2012). This approach seems uniquely well-suited to the question of how to reduce ventilator-associated pneumonia, a common complaint of patients during hospital stays. RAM focuses on objective analysis of the problem and attempting to provide solutions which address human needs through a scientific approach to care. The first step of the nursing process is gathering data, in this case determining why pneumonia is so common amongst patients. Next identifying "internal and external stimuli" that give rise to the health problem followed by a diagnosis and goal setting for improvement ("Application of Roy's Adaptation Model," 2012). After goals are set, the intervention is followed by an evaluation of the evidence to determine its efficacy. It also reflects the fact that when human beings cannot supply...

This is the approach I must take to determine if the use of chlorohexidine provides significant protections versus water in reducing ventilator-associated pneumonia. A quantitative study would be the most appropriate method, involving comparisons of an experimental and control group, one of which received the intervention, the other of which received standard treatment. Demographic characteristics in both groups would need to be balanced; in other words, they would need to be subjected to the same internal and external stimuli; both would have to have relatively equal health status to avoid extraneous variables affecting the outcomes (i.e. rate of illness).
Another potentially useful theory would by Betty Neuman's Systems Model which stresses the different factors which can affect human health. Human beings are "a system in which there is a continuous flow of input and process, output and feedback. It is a system of organized complexity, where all elements are in interaction" (Gonzalo 2011). Finding a more effective agent to prevent infection than water is an example…