Assessment Of Nurses' Performance Regarding Caring Of Patients On Anticoagulant Therapy In Port-Said Hospitals

Abstract

Background: anticoagulants are high-risk drugs so it is very important to monitor the patients receiving anti-coagulant therapy. Aim: assess the nurses' performance regarding caring of patients on anticoagulant therapy in Port Said Hospitals. Subjects and Method: a descriptive research design was used A convenient sample of 130 nurses at three hospitals affiliated to Ministry of Health (Port-Said General Hospital, Port-Fouad General Hospital and El-Zohor Central Hospital) at Port-Said governerate were recruited. Tools: data were collected using three tools, nurses' knowledge assessment questionnaire, nurses' attitude scale and observational checklist for practice. Results: the result of study indicated that 66.9% of studied nurses had got unsatisfactory knowledge and 69.2% of them had got unsatisfactory practice while 60.8% of them had positive attitude regarding anticoagulant therapy. Conclusion: the study concluded that more than two thirds of the studied nurses had unsatisfactory knowledge, practice and less two thirds of them had positive attitude regarding caring of patients on anticoagulant therapy and there were a highly statistically significant positive correlation between total nurses' knowledge, practice scores and their total attitude scores .In addition, there is no statistically significant relations between total score of nurses' knowledge, practice, and attitude and all items of personal characteristics and work related data. Recommendations: There are obvious needs for conducting educational and training programs to improve nurses' knowledge and practice regarding the care of patients undergoing anticoagulant therapy.

Assessment of knowledge and practice of cardiovascular nurses regarding warfarin

“…Therefore, it is required to emphasize on effective decisions for anticoagulation therapy policy and current practical guidelines. [ 18 ] In line with our study, the study conducted by Cheragi et al . in Iran found that the nurses’ practice regarding high-risk drugs such as warfarin was of poor quality.…”

“…also highlighted the deficiency in nursing practice in their research. [ 18 ] The samples of our study were cardiovascular nurses and it was expected these nurses had proper practice about warfarin as a main drug of patients with heart diseases, but the results showed otherwise. Therefore, it is probably anticipated that the quality of practice could be even worse among general nurses.…”

“…[ 38 ] The studies conducted in Saudi Arabia and Morocco on nurses’ practice on medication errors likewise concluded that the knowledge of medical staff, including nurses, physicians, and pharmacists about anticoagulants was insufficient. [ 18 39 ]…”

“…Treatment with warfarin requires nurses to provide constant patient care and has sufficient knowledge and skill, as it is one of the medications with the highest rate of side effects and can lead to adverse effects in patients. [ 17 18 ] Therefore, the lack of knowledge and improper practice can lead to inaccurate patient counseling and inappropriate therapeutic results,[ 19 ] including medication errors, which are among the most common types of medical errors. These errors result in 180,000 deaths in the United States and 185,000 hospitalizations in Canada per year, of which 70,000 are preventable.…”

“…Due to the critical role of health-care professionals in preventing medication errors and improving patients’ safety as a principle, various studies in Sydney, Norway, and Saudi Arabia investigated medical staff's knowledge about anticoagulants, their interactions, and side effects, which indicated that all staff subgroups had neither sufficient knowledge nor proper practice. [ 18 23 ]…”