Knowledge and Practice of Staff Nurses on Prevention of Pressure Ulcers in A Selected Hospital, Kottayam

 

Smitha Paul¹, Asha Liz Mani², Vimal Tom², Chinchu Raju², Sheba Elsan Mathew²,

Geethumol C S², Christy Accamma Cherian²

¹Professor, Department of Medical and Surgical Nursing, Caritas College of Nursing, Kottayam.

²Department of Medical and Surgical Nursing, Caritas College of Nursing, Kottayam.

 

Abstract:

The present study was conducted to assess the knowledge and practice of staff nurses on prevention of pressure ulcers. The objectives of the study were to assess the knowledge of staff nurses on prevention of pressure ulcers, to assess the practice of staff nurses on prevention of pressure ulcers, to determine the correlation between knowledge and practice of staff nurses on prevention of pressure ulcers, to find out the association between knowledge and practice of staff nurses on prevention of pressure ulcers and selected demographic variables. The sample consisted of 60 registered nurses who were working in medical and surgical wards of Caritas Hospital, recruited by purposive sampling technique. The design used was descriptive research design with quantitative approach. The tools used were Structured Questionnaire on socio demographic variables, structured knowledge questionnaire on prevention of pressure ulcers and observation check list to assess the practice on prevention of pressure ulcers. The data was collected by self-report and observation. The data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study revealed that 43% of nurses had good knowledge about prevention of pressure ulcers and 30% nurses had good practice on prevention of pressure ulcers. The study also showed that there was no correlation (r =0.132) between knowledge and practice of staff nurses regarding prevention of pressure ulcers. The study finding showed that there was no significant association between knowledge and practice of staff nurses on prevention of pressure ulcers with selected demographic variables like educational status and current area of work (chi square significance <0.05).

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

Pressure ulcer is a preventable medical complication of immobility. Pressure ulcers (also known as pressure sores, bedsores or decubitus ulcer) are injuries to the skin and underlying tissue, primarily caused by prolonged pressure on the skin. They can happen to anyone, but usually affect people confined to bed or who sit in a chair or wheelchair for long periods of time.¹ Pressure ulcer prevention remains a significant challenge for nurses and its incidence is considered as an indicator of poor quality of care. On average, 60,000 people die each year worldwide due to pressure ulcer related causes.²

 

NEED FOR THE STUDY:

Pressure ulcer prevention is an essential component of nursing practice. Recognizing patients at risk of developing pressure ulcer in early time is an important part of the prevention care pathway.³ Nurses should be encouraged to review the institutional guidelines that identifies specific processes like risk assessment, skin care, patient and staff education that when implemented could reduce pressure ulcer development.⁴ Hence the investigators were interested to know the knowledge of staff nurses and their existing practices.

 

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

A study to assess the knowledge and practice of staff nurses on prevention of pressure ulcers in a selected hospital, Kottayam.

 

OBJECTIVES:

·       Assess the knowledge of staff nurses on prevention of pressure ulcers.

·       Assess the practice of staff nurses on prevention of pressure ulcers.

·       Determine the correlation between knowledge and practice of staff nurses on prevention of pressure ulcers.

·       Find out the association between knowledge and practice of staff nurses on prevention of pressure ulcers and selected demographic variables.

 

OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS:

Knowledge:

It refers to the information collected from staff nurses on prevention of pressure ulcer, assessed using a structured knowledge questionnaire.

Practice:

It refers to the nursing interventions performed related to pressure ulcer prevention by the staff nurses, assessed using an observation checklist.

Staff nurses:

It refers to the registered nurses who are working in general medical and surgical wards of a selected hospital, Kottayam.

Prevention of pressure ulcer:

It refers to all measures that are adopted to prevent the occurrence of pressure ulcers.

 

HYPOTHESES:

H₁:          There is a significant correlation between knowledge and practice of staff nurses on prevention of pressure ulcers.

H₂:          There is a significant association between knowledge and practice of staff nurses on prevention of pressure ulcers and selected demographic variables.

Assumptions:

·       Staff nurses have adequate knowledge on prevention of pressure ulcers.

·       Staff nurses have good practice and experience on prevention of pressure ulcers.

 

METHODOLOGY:

RESEARCH DESIGN:

Quantitative approach was used for the study. The research design selected was a descriptive design.

SETTING OF THE STUDY:

Medical and surgical wards of Caritas Hospital, Kottayam

POPULATION:

Registered nurses in medical and surgical wards of Caritas Hospital, Kottayam

SAMPLE SIZE:

The sample consists of   60 registered nurses who were working in medical and surgical wards of Caritas Hospital and who met the inclusion criteria.

Sampling technique:

The sampling technique selected for the present study is purposive sampling technique

 

CRITERIA FOR SAMPLE SELECTION:

Inclusion criteria:

·       Registered staff nurses who were working in general medical surgical wards.

·       Staff nurses who were willing to participate in the study.

·       Staff nurses available at the time of data collection.

Exclusion criteria:

·       Staff nurses who were on leave during the period of data collection.

TOOLS:

Tool 1: Structured questionnaire on demographic variables

Tool 2: Structured knowledge questionnaire on prevention of pressure ulcer (Reliability-0.9)

Tool 3: Observation check list to assess the practice on prevention of pressure ulcer (Reliability- 0.63)

 

RESULT:

The study revealed that 43% of nurses had good knowledge about prevention of pressure ulcers. The result also depicted that 30% nurses had good pressure ulcer prevention practices. Karl Pearson correlation coefficient was used to find the correlation between knowledge and practice of staff nurses regarding prevention of pressure ulcers. The mean scores of knowledge and practice of staff nurses were 14.3833 and 9.0333 respectively. There was no correlation (r = 0.132)   between knowledge and practice of staff nurses regarding prevention of pressure ulcers.

 

Table 1. Correlation between knowledge and practice of staff nurses regarding prevention of pressure ulcers

 

Table 1 shows that mean scores of knowledge and practice of staff nurses on prevention of pressure ulcers are 14.3833 and 9.0333 respectively. The r value (0.132) indicated that there is no correlation between knowledge and practice of staff nurses regarding prevention of pressure ulcers. Hence the null hypothesis is accepted.

 

CONCLUSION:

The present study was aimed to assess the knowledge and practice of staff nurses on prevention of pressure ulcers in a selected hospital Kottayam. In the present study the obtained mean score of knowledge staff nurses on prevention of pressure ulcers is 14.3833. The mean score of knowledge staff nurses on prevention of pressure is 9.0333. The study revealed that there is no correlation (0.132) between knowledge and practice of staff nurses regarding prevention of pressure ulcers.

 

The present study results showed that there was no significant association between knowledge of staff nurses on prevention of pressure ulcer and demographic variables like educational status, current area of work (chi square significance <0.05). The result of the present study also revealed that there was no significant association between practice of staff nurses on prevention of pressure ulcer and demographic variables like educational status, current area of work (chi square significance <0.05). The researcher concluded that there is no correlation between knowledge and practice of staff nurses regarding prevention of pressure ulcers.

 

NURSING IMPLICATIONS:

The study findings have implications in the field of nursing education, nursing practice, nursing administration and nursing research.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS:

·       A pressure ulcer prevention protocol can be developed

·       An experimental study to assess the effectiveness of pressure ulcer prevention protocol on occurrence of pressure ulcer.

 

REFERENCE:

1.     Rubayi S, Wagenheim BR, Mcleland A. Reconstructive plastic surgery of pressure ulcers. Springer; 2015 Mar 28.

2.     de Oliveira KF, Nascimento KG, Nicolussi AC, Chavaglia SR, de Araujo CA, Barbosa MH. Support surfaces in the prevention of pressure ulcers in surgical patients: An integrative review. International journal of nursing practice. 2017 Aug; 23(4):e12553.

3.     Samuriwo R. Pressure ulcer prevention: the role of the multidisciplinary team. British journal of nursing. 2012 Mar 5; 21(Sup5):S4-13.

4.     Stern A, Mitsakakis N, Paulden M, Alibhai S, Wong J, Tomlinson G, Brooker AS, Krahn M, Zwarenstein M. Pressure ulcer multidisciplinary teams via telemedicine: a pragmatic cluster randomized stepped wedge trial in long term care. BMC health services research. 2014 Dec; 14(1):1-3.

 

Received on 29.12.2022       Modified on 19.01.2023 Accepted on 22.02.2023      ©A&V Publications All right reserved Research J. Science and Tech. 2023; 15(1):20-22. DOI: 10.52711/2349-2988.2023.00004