Preventing pneumonia during a Veteran\u2019s hospital stay could be as simple as improving their oral health. Non-Ventilator Associated Hospital Acquired Pneumonia (NV-HAP) is one of the most common infections in hospitals and accounts for 60% of hospital acquired pneumonia cases nationwide.<\/p>\n
Hospitalized Veterans who develop NV-HAP face a higher risk of mortality, longer hospital stays and complications<\/a> like sepsis compared to Veterans who do not develop NV-HAP.<\/p>\n Since all Veterans in VA hospitals and long-term care settings are at risk for NV-HAP, prevention measures like consistent oral care are essential.<\/p>\n Hospital Acquired Pneumonia Prevention by Engaging Nurses<\/a> (HAPPEN) is a program that supports the prevention of NV-HAP. A team of nurses at the Salem VA Medical Center<\/a> launched HAPPEN after recognizing the need for oral care services to prevent the development of pneumonia among non-ventilated Veterans.<\/p>\n The nurse-led program, supported by a multidisciplinary team including dental professionals, reduces NV-HAP cases by offering education and assistance with completing oral care in hospitals and long-term care settings. The HAPPEN model empowers nurses to provide consistent, effective oral care at least twice daily for Veterans during their hospital or long-term care stay.<\/p>\n VA facilities monitor oral care documentation and NV-HAP rates to provide continuous high-quality care. Veterans on units implementing HAPPEN report high satisfaction with the initiative and gain a better understanding of the importance of oral care in preventing NV-HAP. Each NV-HAP case prevented is predicted to save over $100,000 in 12-month health care costs.<\/p>\n \u201cHAPPEN demonstrates the power of VA\u2019s engaged frontline nursing workforce to identify an opportunity, develop an evidence-based solution and scale that innovation across the nation,\u201d said Dr. Sheila Cox-Sullivan, director of Research Evidence Based Practices and Analytics in VA\u2019s Office of Nursing Services.<\/p>\n Within HAPPEN\u2019s first year, the rate of NV-HAP decreased 92% among Veterans residing in Salem VA\u2019s long term care units. In 2015, HAPPEN entered VHA Shark Tank competition<\/a>, earning a winning bid to replicate the program at Houston VA.<\/p>\n With support from VHA\u2019s Diffusion of Excellence<\/a> program and VHA\u2019s Office of Rural Health<\/a>, HAPPEN began expanding nationwide and, by July 2021, HAPPEN\u2019s innovative approach to NV-HAP prevention had expanded to all VA medical centers. VA medical centers that implemented HAPPEN reported an average 40-60% decrease in NV-HAP cases, reducing the average length of hospital stays and need for long-term care for Veterans.<\/p>\n In September 2024, the American Academy of Nursing selected HAPPEN as one of six Academy Edge Runners<\/a>, an honor awarded to the practice for reducing the risk of NV-HAP among Veterans, shortening hospital stay and saving lives.<\/p>\n To learn more about HAPPEN, visit the HAPPEN page on Diffusion Marketplace<\/a> and read more about the practice\u2019s recent designation as an Academy Edge Runner<\/a>.<\/p>\n Want to learn more about innovation at VA? View the 2024 VHA State of Innovation report, visit our\u00a0website<\/a>,\u00a0subscribe to our weekly newsletter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0explore VA Pathfinder<\/a>\u00a0to learn more about our opportunities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Preventing pneumonia during a Veteran\u2019s hospital stay could be as simple as improving their oral health. Non-Ventilator Associated Hospital Acquired Pneumonia (NV-HAP) is one of the most common infections in hospitals and accounts for 60% of hospital acquired pneumonia cases nationwide. Hospitalized Veterans who develop NV-HAP face a higher risk of mortality, longer hospital stays […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":333549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[812,5,1266],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-333547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dental-care","category-health","category-visn-6"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=333547"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":333553,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333547\/revisions\/333553"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/333549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=333547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=333547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=333547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}A proactive approach to oral care regimens<\/h2>\n
Scaling successes and future direction<\/h2>\n
Learn more<\/h2>\n
![<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nThe nurse-led program, supported by a multidisciplinary team including dental professionals, reduces NV-HAP cases by offering education and assistance with completing oral care in hospitals and long-term care settings. The HAPPEN model empowers nurses to provide consistent, effective oral care at least twice daily for Veterans during their hospital or long-term care stay.<\/p>\nVA facilities monitor oral care documentation and NV-HAP rates to provide continuous high-quality care. Veterans on units implementing HAPPEN report high satisfaction with the initiative and gain a better understanding of the importance of oral care in preventing NV-HAP. Each NV-HAP case prevented is predicted to save over $100,000 in 12-month health care costs.<\/p>\n\u201cHAPPEN demonstrates the power of VA\u2019s engaged frontline nursing workforce to identify an opportunity, develop an evidence-based solution and scale that innovation across the nation,\u201d said Dr. Sheila Cox-Sullivan, director of Research Evidence Based Practices and Analytics in VA\u2019s Office of Nursing Services.<\/p>\nScaling successes and future direction<\/h2>\nWithin HAPPEN\u2019s first year, the rate of NV-HAP decreased 92% among Veterans residing in Salem VA\u2019s long term care units. In 2015, HAPPEN entered VHA Shark Tank competition<\/a>, earning a winning bid to replicate the program at Houston VA.<\/p>\nWith support from VHA\u2019s Diffusion of Excellence<\/a> program and VHA\u2019s Office of Rural Health<\/a>, HAPPEN began expanding nationwide and, by July 2021, HAPPEN\u2019s innovative approach to NV-HAP prevention had expanded to all VA medical centers. VA medical centers that implemented HAPPEN reported an average 40-60% decrease in NV-HAP cases, reducing the average length of hospital stays and need for long-term care for Veterans.<\/p>\nIn September 2024, the American Academy of Nursing selected HAPPEN as one of six Academy Edge Runners<\/a>, an honor awarded to the practice for reducing the risk of NV-HAP among Veterans, shortening hospital stay and saving lives.<\/p>\nLearn more<\/h2>\nTo learn more about HAPPEN, visit the HAPPEN page on Diffusion Marketplace<\/a> and read more about the practice\u2019s recent designation as an Academy Edge Runner<\/a>.<\/p>\nWant to learn more about innovation at VA? View the 2024 VHA State of Innovation report, visit our\u00a0website<\/a>,\u00a0subscribe to our weekly newsletter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0explore VA Pathfinder<\/a>\u00a0to learn more about our opportunities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Preventing pneumonia during a Veteran\u2019s hospital stay could be as simple as improving their oral health. Non-Ventilator Associated Hospital Acquired Pneumonia (NV-HAP) is one of the most common infections in hospitals and accounts for 60% of hospital acquired pneumonia cases nationwide. Hospitalized Veterans who develop NV-HAP face a higher risk of mortality, longer hospital stays […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":333549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[812,5,1266],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-333547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dental-care","category-health","category-visn-6"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=333547"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":333553,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333547\/revisions\/333553"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/333549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=333547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=333547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=333547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Banner_r1-2.jpg\"){kind=link}