An Interventional Study on the Effects of Pressure Ulcer Education on Jordanian Registered Nurses’ Knowledge and Practice
Publication Type
Original research
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BACKGROUND: Pressure ulcers (PUs) are health problems that resulted in human suffering, pain, disfigurement, loss of productive time, and financial burden. Despite the fact that PU is largely preventable (Elliott, McKinley & Fox, 2008) and recent advances in health care, PU rates are significantly increased in health care facilities (EPUAP, 2009). PURPOSE: The current study examined the effects of pressure ulcer education program on nurses’ knowledge, practices, attitudes and intentions towards PU prevention and treatment. METHODS: Interventional approach using before-after test design was used. Two hundred and twenty nurses were randomly selected from eight hospitals in Jordan. Nurses’ knowledge and practice about PU was measured by PU knowledge and practice test based on EPUAP guidelines and Beeckman et al. (2011), while attitudes and intentions were measured using scales. RESULTS: The study revealed that nurses’ knowledge, practices, attitudes and intentions were improved towards PU prevention and treatment. Demographic variables such as gender and years of experience were influential in relation to nurses’ knowledge, practices, attitudes and intentions towards PU prevention and treatment. Results also showed lack of accurate information about PU management among nurses and positive nurses’ attitudes toward PU prevention and treatment. CONCLUSION: A PU education program is a powerful tool for nurses. It provides an opportunity to improve understanding of PU, keep abreast of current knowledge on PU, and eliminate patient's suffering. Additionally, PU education programs can help nurses to acquire professional attitudes that will enable them to improve quality of nursing care.

Journal
Title
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences Volume 47, Pages 2196–2206
Publisher
Elsevier/ science direct
Publisher Country
United Kingdom
Indexing
Scopus
Impact Factor
None
Publication Type
Both (Printed and Online)
Volume
47
Year
2012
Pages
2196-2206