Nursing knowledge and behaviors of main caregivers for stroke patients with outside-hospital pressure ulcer

Abstract

Objective To explore the present situation of pressure ulcer of outside-hospital stroke patients, and to investigate caring knowledge and behaviors of their caregivers on pressure ulcer prevention and treatment. Methods From January to November in 2014, questionnaire was conducted in 78 caregivers of stroke patients with outside-hospital pressure ulcer. Results Within two hours after admission, 85.9% of patients were graded as high risk by Braden scale, while 79.2% belonged to grades I and Ⅱ. 15.0% of the patients were hard to be graded or suspected to be with deep tissue damage. In the caregiver′s pressure ulcer prevention and treatment questionnaire, the relatively higher score went to skin care, while the lowest went to knowledge of pressure ulcer prevention, followed by the coping methods after occurrence of pressure ulcers. For dimensions of caring behavior in the questionnaire, the dimension of skin care acquired the highest score, while turning-over was the lowest, followed by wound care. Conclusions For community stroke patients, present situation of skin care is not satisfactory, and prevention knowledge and caring behavior of their caregivers on pressure ulcer need to be strengthened. Key words: Stroke; Pressure ulcer; Caregiver; Caring behavior; Knowledge of prevention and treatment