Fisseha Zewdu Amdie
Department of nursing, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Gondar,Ethiopia.
Title: Knowledge and practice of nurses towards prevention of pressure ulcer and associated factors in Gondar University Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia
Biography
Biography: Fisseha Zewdu Amdie
Abstract
Pressure ulcers are the common conditions among patients hospitalized in acute and chronic care facilities and impose significant burden on patients, their relatives and caregivers. Pressure ulcers have been described as one of the most costly and physically debilitating complications since the 20th century. The pain and discomfort due to pressure ulcer prolongs illness, rehabilitation, time of discharge and even contribute to disability and death. An institution-based cross-sectional survey was conducted from March 15 - April 10, 2014 to assess knowledge, practice and factors associated with pressure ulcer prevention among 248 nurses in Gondar University hospital. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the study population. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was also carried out to see the effect of each independent variable on the dependent variable. In this study nearly half (54.4 %) of the nurses had good knowledge; similarly 48.4 % of them had good practice on prevention of pressure ulcer. Educational status, work experience and having formal training were significantly associated with knowledge on prevention of pressure ulcer. While, satisfaction with nursing leadership, staff shortage and inadequate facilities and equipment were found to be significantly associated with the practice on prevention of pressure ulcer. As a conclusion knowledge and practice of the nurses regarding prevention of pressure ulcer was found to be inadequate. Having higher educational status, attending formal training and being experienced were positively associated with knowledge; while shortage of facilities and equipments, dissatisfaction with nursing leadership and inadequate staff number showed negative association with practice of nurse’s pressure ulcer prevention. In-service training and upgrading courses are some of the important steps to improve nurses’ knowledge and practice on prevention of ulcer pressure.