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One of the most frequent complications among hospitalized patients is the development of pneumonia. Patients in the acute care setting are a significant risk of developing nosocomial pneumonia. This is especially true for patients receiving mechanical ventilation in Critical Care Units. Nosocomial pneumonia increases length of stay by four to nine days and has been shown to increase cost of care by as much as $48,000. Pneumonia can result in increased morbidity and mortality. Nurses must be aware of the best management of patients in order to prevent hospital-acquired pneumonias. Focus of this session will be on overall management of patients in the acute care setting with an emphasis on evidence-based practice in order to provide optimal patient outcomes by reducing the incidence of hospital acquired pneumonia. An emphasis will be provided on reduction of ventilator-associated pneumonia. Evidence-based nursing interventions that result in a decrease of pneumonia will be discussed at length. These include appropriate ventilator management, oral care interventions, and mobility. Nurses play a unique role in preventing complications and improving outcomes that can lead to better utilization of healthcare dollars and resources. Examples of programs that have been implemented to decrease ventilator-associated pneumonia will be incorporated into this session. Significant improvements have been attained at our institution with reductions in VAP from 21.4% to 0%. These improvements came as a result of nursing practice interventions based on research utilization. This session will exemplify the valuable role of the bedside nurse in positively impacting patient outcomes with an emphasis on research utilization of evidence-based information to prevent pneumonia.