Oncology Critical Care Nurse's Knowledge about Insertion, Care and Complications of Venous Port Catheters in Egypt

Abstract

Implantable port catheter devices are frequently used to manage patients undergoing long term administration of chemotherapy. Though it has many advantages, they are not free from complications. Nurse's who are knowledgeable and competent in the basic aspects of port-a-cath care able to ensure specific child needs are met and prevent further complications. Aim: was to assess Oncology Critical Care Nurse's Knowledge about insertion, Care and Complications of Venous Port Catheters in Egypt. Research Design: A descriptive design was utilized. Setting: was conducted at critical care units at 57357 hospitals in Egypt. Subject: A convenient sample of 100 oncology nurses who cared for patients undergoing port-a-cath insertion were enrolled in this study. Tools: nurse's background and implantable port catheter care knowledge questionnaire were utilized. Results: In this study, 62% of oncology nurses received in-service training courses about the implantable port catheter. Also, it revealed two thirds of the studied subjects (69%) have got satisfactory knowledge level with the average mean 40.31+2.12 out of 50. Moreover, it showed high significant differences among the oncology nurses level of knowledge by their age and educational qualifications and total knowledge scores (X 2 =13.17, p=0.001 and X 2 =7.79, p=0.02 respectively), nurses' years of experience in nursing profession, experience in handling port-a-cath, attending training courses about port-a-cath (X 2 =23.48, p=0.0001; X 2 =20.89, p=0.0001 and X 2 =55.47, p=0.0001 respectively. Conclusion: The majority of the oncology nurses had got satisfactory level and there was significant correlation between the nurses' knowledge level and their demographic characteristics except their gender. Recommendations: periodic consideration of in-service training programs regarding port-a-cath implantation care according to the updated standards and guidelines.