The nurse is caring for a patient dependent on a mechanical ventilator. In order to reduce the risk of developing pneumonia, the nurse should:

Explanation

•To prevent hospital-associated pneumonia, the nurse should perform oral cares every 4 hours, reposition every 2 hours, and keep the head of bed elevated to prevent aspiration.

•Restricting fluids can increase the risk of pneumonia.

•The use of prophylactic antibiotics for the prevention of hospital-associated pneumonia is not common and may actually increase the risk of developing resistant organisms.

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