Knowledge and Attitudes of Surgical Nurses towards Pressure Ulcer Prevention

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine pressure ulcer prevention knowledge and attitudes among nurses who cared for surgical patients that were exposed to pressure ulcer risk factors such as immobilization and nutritional problems.

Materials and Method: This descriptive study was carried out with 150 nurses who were working in the surgical clinics and surgical intensive care units of a medical faculty hospital in XXXX and who had at least one year’s professional experience. Necessary permissions were obtained from the ethics committee and the institution prior to the research. Data were collected with a patient information form, the Pressure Ulcer Prevention Knowledge Assessment Instrument (PUPKAI) and the Attitude towards Pressure ulcer Prevention instrument (APuP) between October 1, 2018 and February 1, 2019.  Data were analyzed with the independent-samples t-test, the Mann-Whitney U test, the Kruskal-Wallis test, the correlation analysis and the multiple regression analysis.

Results: The mean age of the nurses was 29.91±6.48 years, 65.3% were female and half of them had undergraduate degrees. According to the PUPKAI total mean score (<60%), the pressure ulcer prevention knowledge of the nurses was inadequate and only 24% had a knowledge score ≥60%. Regression analysis results showed that, nurses' professional experience duration, working style, number of patients per shift and the experiences of giving care to patients with pressure ulcers were found to have a significant effect on the PUPKAI total mean score (p<0.05). According to the APuP total mean score (≥75%), the nurses had positive attitudes towards pressure ulcer prevention. It was also determined that the descriptive characteristics of the nurses did not significantly affect the APuP total mean score (p>0.05). There was no significant relationship between the total mean scores of the PUPKAI and APuP (p>0.05).

Conclusion: This study revealed that the surgical nurses had positive attitudes towards pressure ulcer prevention but they had inadequate knowledge about it. These findings highlight the need for institutional arrangements to ensure that nurses have access to evidence-based knowledge about pressure ulcer prevention.