Nurses' Knowledge Concerning Prevention and Treatment of Pressure Ulcers.

Abstract

Pressure ulcers have high prevalence in patients and can be prevented with proper nursing interventions. The aim of this study was to evaluate nurses' knowledge about prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers. The present study was conducted with 111 nurses working in a General hospital in Greece. In this study, nurses had adequate knowledge about prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers. Respondents answered correctly in questions about staging of pressure ulcers (98.2%, 98.2%, 99.1%, 97.3%, 93.7%), the role of changing position in prevention of pressure ulcer (97.3%), the use of foam mattress (85.6%) and stretched sheets (92.8%), the use of antiseptic solution (95.5%, 85.6%), and interventions to reduce pressure on patients' heels (88.3%). A number of participants had adequate level of knowledge in the questions about the role of diet in healing of pressure ulcers (71.2%), products or devices for prevention or treatment of pressure ulcers (61.3%, 36.9%), healing of pressure ulcers (58.6%, 46.8%), prevention of bone pressure ulcers (31.5%), cleaning of a pressure ulcer (52.3%), and the role of low blood pressure as a risk factor for pressure ulcer (55.9%). However, the development of educational programs can help nurses to improve their knowledge about prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers.