Assessment of nurse’s knowledge about Glasgow coma scale at a university hospital

Abstract

Objective To assess knowledge of nurses of emergency services and intensive care units about Glasgow Coma Scale.Methods This cross-sectional analytical study included 127 nurses of critical units of an university hospital. We used structured interview with 12 questions to evaluate their knowledge about the scale. Association of Knowledge with professionals’ sociodemographic variables were verified by the Fisher-test, χ2 and likelihood ratio.Results Most of participants were women mean aged 31.1 years, they had graduated more than 5 years previously, and had 1 to 3 years of work experience. In the assessment of best score possible for Glasgow scale (question 3) nurses who had graduate more than 5 years ago presented a lower percentage success rate (p=0.0476). However, in the question 7, which evaluated what interval of the scale indicated moderate severity of brain trauma injury, those with more years of experience had higher percentage of correct answers (p=0.0251). In addition, nurses from emergency service had more correct answers than nurses from intensive care unit (p=0.0143) in the same question. Nurses graduated for more than 5 years ago had a lower percentage of correct answers in question 7 (p=0.0161). Nurses with more work experience had a better score (p=0.0119) to identify how assessment of motor response should be started.Conclusion Number of year since graduation, experience, and work at critical care units interfered in nurses’ knowledge about the scale, which indicates the need of training.

Exploring Nurses’ Knowledge of the Glasgow Coma Scale in Intensive Care and Emergency Departments at a Tertiary Hospital in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia

“…For example, nurses in South America (Ehwarieme & Anarado, 2016;Santos et al, 2016) have been observed to be somewhat knowledgeable in demonstrating the GCS in clinical settings. Brazilian nurses in emergency and intensive care units had high knowledge of the GCS (Santos et al, 2016). However, concerns have been raised regarding the lack of precision and inconsistency when the GCS is used.…”

“…Similarly, little is known about how cultural differences might influence nurses' knowledge of the GCS and enable nurses to fulfill their multiple clinical roles. Empirical data also showed that nurses are inconsistent and inaccurate when they perform the GCS in a mentoring system, which is a critical component of assessment and care of patients experiencing trauma, surgery, and neurological effects (Santos et al, 2016). Keeping patients safe is a dimension of high-quality healthcare, and nurses are the key to ensuring that patients receive the best possible care (Ehwarieme & Anarado, 2016).…”

Designing Job Descriptions for Toxicology Nurses

“…This finding oppose Santos et al (2016), who found that the majority of nurses (more than 80%) in ICUs has good knowledge about (GCS) Glasgow coma scale; Also taking vital signs is a simple task and considered as an essential element for decision, planning of treatment and resuscitation procedures of the toxicology patient.…”

Nurses' understanding and experience of applying painful stimuli when assessing components of the Glasgow Coma Scale

“…Nurses working in intensive/ critical care units and emergency departments have reported poor levels of knowledge about the scale (Singh et al, 2016). Although with time and experience nurses' knowledge improves Santos, Vancini-Campanharo, Lopes, Okuno, & Batista, 2016;Reith et al, 2016), knowledge and skills obtained from education and experience in the GCS are reported to enhance accuracy and ability to use the GCS tool (Ellis & Cavanagh, 1992;Hansen, Norris, & Sceriha, 1992;Heron et al, 2001;Mattar, Liaw, & Chan, 2013). Additionally, with time, nurses attained more self-confidence in using the GCS (Chan, Mattar, & Taylor, 2013;Mattar, Liaw, & Chan, 2015), and a more positive attitude was associated with increased self-confidence (Shoqirat, 2006).…”

“…For nurses working in the field of neurosciences, evidence suggests that their knowledge of the GCS is inadequate (Jaddoua, Mohammed, & Abbas, 2013) and that nurses lack confidence in its use (Ehwarieme & Anarado, 2017). More specifically when investigating aspects of the GCS such as assessing eye opening, the evidence suggests that nurses have poor knowledge (Holdgate et al, 2006;Reith et al, 2016;Santos et al, 2016).…”