Abstract: Introduction: Pressure ulcer still is identified as a major problem in hospital setting and prevalence of bed pressure ulcer in the critical care units is high in comparing to other general wards. The rate of pressure ulcer in Asian countries was found high rate from 2 2.1% to 31.3% in Intensive Care Units [15]. Methods: The study population was entire nurses who were working in all three critical care units. Study was completed with the participation of Fifty two Nurses. Data were collected using Pieper- Zulkowski pressure ulcer knowledge test questionnaire, Attitude towards prevention of pressure ulcer scale and questionnaire for Nurses’ practice on pressure ulcer prevention. Results: This study found that mean of nurse’s age was 32.10 ± 5.6, min:23 max: 46, Majority were female (82.7%), more than half of were married (65.4 %), most of had a Diploma in Nursing (92.3 %), average length of service period was 7.083±5.97 years ,most of them (86.5%) had not received in-service training. Overall knowledge level was at very low (M=58.6 ±1.01 min: 30.56 and max: 76.39), 48% of Nurses had a low-level knowledge, 46.2% of Nurses had very low level of Knowledge, only three Nurses (5.8%) had a moderate Knowledge level. Over all nurse attitude was neutral (74.79 ±8.35). Majority (63.3%) express neutral level of attitudes, very few (13.5%) express negative attitudes and about one fifth (19.2%) had positive attitudes. Practice was at high level (79.98 ± 1.52 mini: 54.5 max: 100). 50% of Nurses had a high level of practice and 21.2 % had a very high level of practice, 15.4% of nurses had very low level. There was a significant moderate positive relationship among Nurses’ knowledge and attitudes (r = .36, p <0.05), knowledge and practice (r = .63, p<0.05). Conclusion: The study found that majority of nurses had very low level of knowledge, neutral level of attitudes and high level of practice regarding pressure ulcer prevention and there was a significant positive relationship between knowledge and attitudes, knowledge and practice. This study makes awareness and concern about to improve the knowledge and attitudes of nurses on the pressure ulcer.
Keywords: Pressure ulcer, Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice.
Title: Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice of the Nurses towards Pressure Ulcer Prevention in Critical Care Units in Teaching Hospital Batticaloa, Sri Lanka
Author: Sathasivam Shanmukanathan, Firoz Ahmed Mamin
International Journal of Healthcare Sciences
ISSN 2348-5728 (Online)
Research Publish Journals
