• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.619-628
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• 2000

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge level of pressure ulcer among hospital nurses through a cross-sectional survey by using the pressure ulcer knowledge assessment tool of Beitz et al.(1998). The total of subjects was 160 voluntary participants (60 were from Hospital A and 100 were from Hospital B) working at adult patients' units in two university hospitals located in the same city. None of the hospitals had expert nurses of pressure ulcer nor provided a regular pressure ulcer education program during the past one year. The survey tool consisted of 32 true-false items which were grouped into the risk factors knowledge category(13 items), the wound assessment knowledge category(4 items), and the treatment methods knowledge category(15 items). An internal consistency reliability test of the tool yielded an overall coefficient of 0.72; the coefficient for the risk factors knowledge category was 0.40, that for the wound assessment knowledge category was 0.33; that for the treatment knowledge category was 0.54. The main findings of the study are as follows. 1) Demographic characteristics of the two hospital nurses were similar except for the educational level(p=0.029) and the work units(p=0.001). These observations were maintained even if Hospital A and B were separately compared. 2) The knowledge level of the subjects about pressure ulcer in general was low as indicated by 53.3 points(of 100 possible points) on average. The knowledge level about treatment methods of pressure ulcer was the lowest as indicated by 47.0 points on average. 3) No correlation between the knowledge level of the pressure ulcer and the demographic characteristics of nurses was found except that the knowledge level of I.C.U. nurses was significantly higher(p=0.0003) than that of nurses in other units(p=0.2926) in the case of Hospital A. 4) The knowledge level of nurses in Hospital B was higher than for nurses in Hospital A. The reason was not identified, but it seems that it is related to the role of the I.C.U. or some other factors. The study results confirmed the existing literature that knowledge level of nurses about pressure ulcer is low regardless of age, educational level, or work experience. However, the working place(unit) affected the knowledge level. Further research on the exact reason for the differences in the knowledge level is needed in the future.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.95-104
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• 2009

Purpose: To examine pressure ulcer care from the standpoints of perceived importance, educational needs, knowledge and performance among clinical nurses. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted with a convenient sample of 289 nurses from four hospitals. Questionnaire data collected from June to August 2008 was analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation coefficients. Results: The mean scores of importance and educational needs concerning pressure ulcer care were high, performance was moderate, and knowledge was low. Knowledge level differed significantly according to career, performance differed significantly according to pressure ulcer care education and the main healer(the person primarily responsible for treatment). Perceived importance differed significantly according to the main healer, and educational needs differed significantly according to working area and the main healer. Significant correlations were evident between performance and importance, performance and educational needs, importance and knowledge, and importance and educational needs. Conclusion: Focus on perceived importance and educational needs to clinical nurses about pressure ulcer care may be beneficial to improve knowledge and practice of pressure ulcer care, and should be reflected in the development of effective programs to enhance relevant nursing skills.