Oncology Critical Care Nurse's Knowledge about Insertion, Care and Complications of Venous Port Catheters in Egypt

Khalil Ns,Moustafa Z,Youssef W

doi:10.4172/2573-0347.1000137

Abstract

Implantable port catheter devices are frequently used to manage patients undergoing long term administration of chemotherapy. Though it has many advantages, they are not free from complications. Nurse's who are knowledgeable and competent in the basic aspects of port-a-cath care able to ensure specific child needs are met and prevent further complications. Aim: was to assess Oncology Critical Care Nurse's Knowledge about insertion, Care and Complications of Venous Port Catheters in Egypt. Research Design: A descriptive design was utilized. Setting: was conducted at critical care units at 57357 hospitals in Egypt. Subject: A convenient sample of 100 oncology nurses who cared for patients undergoing port-a-cath insertion were enrolled in this study. Tools: nurse's background and implantable port catheter care knowledge questionnaire were utilized. Results: In this study, 62% of oncology nurses received in-service training courses about the implantable port catheter. Also, it revealed two thirds of the studied subjects (69%) have got satisfactory knowledge level with the average mean 40.31+2.12 out of 50. Moreover, it showed high significant differences among the oncology nurses level of knowledge by their age and educational qualifications and total knowledge scores (X2=13.17, p=0.001 and X2=7.79, p=0.02 respectively), nurses' years of experience in nursing profession, experience in handling port-a-cath, attending training courses about port-a-cath (X2=23.48, p=0.0001; X2=20.89, p=0.0001 and X2=55.47, p=0.0001 respectively. Conclusion: The majority of the oncology nurses had got satisfactory level and there was significant correlation between the nurses' knowledge level and their demographic characteristics except their gender. Recommendations: periodic consideration of in-service training programs regarding port-a-cath implantation care according to the updated standards and guidelines.

Highlights

Central Venous Access Devices (CVADs) have been used successfully for over 40 years in a wide variety of settings
In relation to the oncology nurses' educational qualifications, the current findings revealed that two-thirds of the studied sample had a bachelor degree and the rest of them had a technical institute degree
The present study sought to assess the oncology nurses' knowledge regarding insertion and care of port-a-cath. it revealed that the total mean knowledge score of the studied nurses was 40.31+2.12 out of 50

Summary

Introduction

Central Venous Access Devices (CVADs) have been used successfully for over 40 years in a wide variety of settings. In the acute care setting they provide a route for rapid and reliable intravenous administration of drugs, fluids, blood products and Parenteral Nutrition (PN) and may be used to monitor Central Venous Pressure. They are used for children who require long term IV access undergoing continuous/intermittent complex IV therapies such as chemotherapy and blood sampling and Parenteral Nutrition (PN) [1]. Long-term central venous catheters (CVCs) have been in clinical use for over 20 years for the administration of infusional cytotoxic therapy to children with both haematological and solid malignancies This practice is increasing rapidly due to ease of catheter insertion, novel high dose chemotherapy regimens requiring long term vascular access and increased use of ambulatory infusional regimens [3]

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