Pressure Injury Knowledge in Critical Care Nurses

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify pressure injury knowledge in critical care nurses related to prevention and staging following multimodal education initiatives. DESIGN: Postintervention descriptive study. SETTING AND SAMPLE: The sample comprised 32 RNs employed in medical intensive care/coronary intensive care or surgical intensive care units. The study setting was a 237-bed Veterans Affairs acute care hospital in the Midwestern United States. METHODS: Critical care RNs were asked to participate in this project over a 3-week period following a multimodal 2-year education initiative. Nurses completed the paper version of the 72-item Pieper-Zulkowski Pressure Ulcer Knowledge Test (PZ-PUKT) to determine pressure injury knowledge level. Calculated mean cumulative scores and subscores for items related to prevention and staging, respectively. Pearson correlations were used to examine associations between nursing staff characteristics and the PZ-PUKT prevention and staging scores. RESULTS: The cumulative score on the PZ-PUKT was 51.66 (72%); nurses with 5 to 10 years' experience had a higher mean score than nurses with experiences of 20 years or more (mean +/- SD = 54.25 +/- 4.37 vs 49.5 +/- 7.12), but the difference was not statistically significant. Nurses scored higher on the staging system-related items as compared to the prevention-related items (81% vs 70%). Nurses achieved higher staging subscale scores if they were younger (r = -0.41, P <.05), had less experience (r = -0.43, P <.05), and if they worked in the medical intensive care unit (r = 0.37, P <.05). CONCLUSIONS: Study findings indicate gaps in knowledge related to pressure injury practice; participants had greater knowledge of staging rather than prevention. Cumulative and subscale findings can be used to direct educational efforts needed to improve and maintain an effective pressure injury prevention program.