Analysis of nursing professionals’ knowledge about pressure ulcer prevention: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objectives to analyze and compare the level of knowledge about pressure ulcer prevention among nurses and nursing technicians who work in Intensive Care Units and nursing students in the last year of the course. Method a cross-sectional, descriptive-exploratory study with a quantitative approach, using the Pieper’s Pressure Ulcer Knowledge Test. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science, using descriptive and inferential statistics (ANOVA-One Way, Shapiro-Wilk normality test and assumption of homogeneity using Levene’s test). Results the research sample included 70 participants, being 22 nurses, 14 nursing technicians and 34 undergraduate nursing students. It was observed that only 22.7% of nurses, 7.1% of technicians and 0.0% of students reached the percentage of correct answers ≥ 90% recommended by the knowledge test. Conclusion and implications for practice the results found in this study made it possible to identify an insufficient level of knowledge and a mistaken perception of aptitude, related to the pressure ulcer prevention, among the study participants, with emphasis on technicians and undergraduates in nursing. Therefore, this research points to the need for educational actions aimed at training the aforementioned public.