Pneumonia prevention now subject of new study

NextGen nursing academic gets another big grant to improve clinical care

A nursing academic at Avondale has received another million dollar grant to ensure the clinical care you receive as a hospital patient is best practice.

Brett Mitchell will use the $1.5 million from the Medical Research Future Fund to help prevent healthcare-associated pneumonia. It is the most common healthcare-associated infection—accounting for about one-third of all infections—but, “remarkably, receives little attention,” says Brett, the university’s Professor of Nursing and Health Services Research. “I’m excited, and relieved, then to see this study funded. It’s been years in the making.”

With one in 10 patients—or 165,000 people a year—acquiring an infection in an Australian hospital, the burden is significant. Pneumonia is associated with an increase in morbidity, mortality and antimicrobial resistance—the bacterial pathogens that cause it are becoming increasingly difficult to treat, says Brett. So, preventing it will benefit us all. “Making life a little bit better is not only good for the patient but also for the community because by shortening length of stay, we free beds for elective surgery.”

As lead researcher, Brett will develop “the most robust randomised control study to date” with clinicians from across Australia and with eight industry partners, who are providing in-kind support of more than $600,000. The study will evaluate the effectiveness of a proposed bundle that increases the frequency and quality of oral care at three Australian hospitals. They key question: Will the bundle decrease the incidence of healthcare-associated pneumonia and, if so, at what cost? “Our findings will provide the best evidence to inform healthcare policy, clinical practice and the curriculum for nursing courses,” says chief investigator Dr Sonja Dawson, an early career researcher and a colleague of Brett’s in the School of Nursing and Health.

With no multi-centre randomised controlled studies exploring the prevention of pneumonia in hospital anywhere in the world, the four-year study has the potential to make a big impact, “and not only for patients in Australia,” says Brett.

The grant, from the fund’s Clinician Researchers Initiative, is Brett’s second in as many years. He received a $1.5 million grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council and an award from the federal Minister for Health and Aged Care this past year to further study the prevention of healthcare-acquired infections.