Intensive Care Nurses’ Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Pressure Injury Prevention in China: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Pressure injury (PI) remains a critical health issue worldwide. The global incidence of hospital-acquired PI is 8.4%, and among intensive-care unit (ICU) patients, it is even higher, ranging from 6.60% to 36.80%. It is important to investigate ICU nurses’ PI prevention knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP). AIM: The aim of this study was to describe the level of Chinese ICU nurses’ knowledge, attitudes, and self-reported practices of PI prevention. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From March 31 to April 30, 2019, we recruited a total of 510 ICU nurses into the current study using convenience sampling. The Modified Pressure Ulcer Knowledge Assessment Tool version 2.0, Attitudes toward Pressure Ulcer Prevention instrument, and Questionnaire to evaluate nurses’ Adherence to Recommendations for Preventing Pressure Ulcers were used for data collection. We used one-way analysis of variance, Student’s t-test, and the Mann–Whitney U-test to assess differences in knowledge, attitudes, and self-reported practices of PI prevention among ICU nurses, whom we categorized by their demographic characteristics. RESULTS: Mean scores of participants’ knowledge, attitude, and their self-report practice were 65.82 ± 9.29, 76.65 ± 8.62, and 83.35 ± 13.55, respectively. Participants with bachelor’s degrees or higher, who worked in tertiary hospitals, and who had received training on PI prevention over the last year had higher scored on PI prevention knowledge (all P < 0.05). Participants who had received training on PI prevention over the last year scored higher on attitude than those who had not received such training over the last year (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: ICU nurses surveyed in this study did not demonstrate an acceptable level of knowledge about PI prevention, while their attitudes and self-reported practices were acceptable. Continuing education or in-service training should be provided to enhance ICU nurses’ knowledge of PI prevention.