Ismet Eser
Ege University, Turkey
Title: The intensive care nurses’ level of knowledge and practice regarding endotracheal suctioning
Biography
Biography: Ismet Eser
Abstract
This study was conducted to determine open system endotracheal suctioning knowledge and practice of the critical care nurses and to investigate relationship between defining characteristics and nurses’ knowledge and practices. The study was conducted through a cross-sectional and non-participant structured observational design between 2013 and 2014 in a teaching hospital in Western Turkey. The study sample included 72 nurses working at 3 adults ICUs. After the ethical approvals, data were collected using a 45-item structured and self-administered questionnaire and a 31-item onservational checklist. The questionnare and checklist were first sent to12 experts for assessment of content validity. In terms of reliability of the tools, a pilot study was undertaken. Descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized to analyze the data. The mean years of age of the nurses was 30,87 + 6,18, 75% of them were female and 65,3% had a Bachelor’s degree. The mean scores of knowledge and practice were 23,79 + 3,83 and 12,88 +2,53. The relationship between the type of intensive care unit and the nurses’ knowledge scores was statistically significant (Kruskal-Wallis x2=8,619, p= 0,013).This study suggests that most of the nurses’ knowledge level was good and practice level was fair. Intensive care nurses should perform suctioning procedure accurately in order to ensure delivery of quality of care and eliminate complications. It is very important to improve themselves by obtaining knowledge from diverse scientific sources continuously.