Nursing staff knowledge concerning prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers

Abstract

Introduction: The presence of pressure ulcers (PU) in hospitalized patients is evaluated as an indicator
of quality in nursing care. Several studies have established that the level of knowledge,
academic level and attitude of the staff influences the appearance of these wounds that increase
the costs of the health system.

Objective: To determine the level of knowledge of nursing staff in prevention and treatment of
pressure ulcers.

Methods: descriptive, correlational and cross-sectional study. A non-probability random sample of
102 nurses of five services was obtained at a public hospital in Aguascalientes, Mexico. The ReAc-
PUKT instrument (of false/true dichotomous structure) was applied based on recommendations
and evidences from the Mexican practice guideline (alpha = 0.73).

Results: 62.7% of nursing staff were female, 70.4% had basic training in nursing. The overall score
in the assessment of knowledge was 60.4%. By category, 56% was obtained in general, 63% in
prevention and 62.2% in treatment. The higher degree of studies implies a higher knowledge on
pressure ulcers (r = 0.238, p = 0.008).

Conclusions: The level of knowledge was insufficient. There is a noticeable lack of updating on the
subject. The results obtained are relevant to implement courses of updating and improvements in
the protocols for hospital care by assessing the decrease in the incidence of PU.