الملخص الإنجليزي
Abstract :
Background: Pressure Ulcer (PU) is a serious health condition that exhaust health care
professionals, especially nurses. as prolonged hospitalization is a leading risk factor; however,
PU is a preventable injury. Furthermore, Nurses have a crucial role in PU prevention and
management, mainly by applying PU prevention and management clinical guidelines. The
literature suggests that such implementation is affected by nurses’ perception of PU. This study
focused on three components of nurses’ perception, including (1) knowledge regarding PU, (2)
attitude toward PU, and (3) perceived barriers to PU prevention.
Aim: The study aimed to identify the level of knowledge and attitude toward PU Prevention
and the perception of barriers to implementing PU prevention guidelines among nurses at
Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC).
Methodology: The study followed a descriptive cross-sectional design. The study was
conducted at SMC and included 132 nurses from critical and non-critical working areas. A
simple randomization method was used to select the study sample, and three calibrated
questionnaires were used to assess the study variables: (1) Pressure Ulcer Knowledge
Assessment Tool 2.0 (PUKAT 2.0), (2) Attitude towards Pressure Ulcer Prevention instrument
(APuP), and (3) Pressure Injury Prevention Barriers (PIPB).
Results: Results showed that 12.1 % (n=16) of nurses had satisfactory knowledge about PU,
and about 65.15 % (n=86) demonstrated a positive attitude toward PU prevention. There was
no statistically significant difference between critical and non-critical care nurses regarding
knowledge of PU (p-value = 0.84) or attitude toward PU (p-value =0.45). The lack of devices
was the most reported barrier to PU prevention, followed by uncooperative patient families.
Conclusion: Nurses showed inadequate knowledge regarding PU, especially in terms of PU
prevention; however, nurses have demonstrated a positive attitude toward PU and reported a
low number of barriers to PU prevention; subsequently, a structured training program may
elevate nurses’ knowledge and improve care.
Keywords: Pressure Ulcer; Knowledge; Attitudes; Prevention & control; Nurses.
