Knowledge and Practice regarding Surgical Wound Dressing among Nurses at National Hospital for Respiratory Disease, Welisara, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Background: Surgical site infections are one of the most common healthcare associated infections and account for 3.2 billion cost per year in acute care hospitals. It is the most frequent cause of 20% unplanned re-admissions after surgery which leads to increased morbidity and mortality. Nurses are the healthcare group which is directly involved in the management of surgical wounds and surgical site infections. Objective: To assess the knowledge and practices of nurses on surgical site wound dressing among nurses at National Hospital for Respiratory Disease (NHRD) Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 150 nurses at NHRD. They were selected by simple random sampling method and a pre-tested, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data during August, 2019. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics on SPSS version 23. Results: Among the 150 nurses, 94% were female and 6% were males and most of them were in between 31-40 years of age. Fifty four percent of nurses had no clear idea regarding purpose of dressing, but 63% aware some important facts of dressing. Eighty eight percent had clear idea regarding sterility maintaining. Majority, 79.3% (n = 119) and 92.7% (n = 139) of nurses had a satisfactory knowledge regarding sterility period and sterile packets respectively. Around 96% nurses had sufficient knowledge regarding the order of wound dressing and types. Majority of nurses (96%, n = 144) had satisfactory practices regarding wound dressing, similar proportion had satisfactory practices regarding medical hand washing procedures. Only 10% of nurses had gained knowledge on dressing from in service programs. Conclusions: Nurses had sufficient knowledge and practice in surgical wound dressing. It is needed to update and maintain the knowledge and practical skills about surgical wound management for nurses through in-service training.