The impact of nurses’ qualifications on their knowledge in the field of prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers

Aim of this study is to assess the nurses’ knowledge in the field of pressure ulcers prevention and treatment, while taking into consideration level of their qualifications.

Material and methods: The study consisted of 400 nurses participating in postgraduate training organized by OKPPiP in the Podkarpackie, Małopolskie and Mazowieckie vivoidships. Calculations were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 20. The reliability of the scales was rated using α Cronbach coefficient, and the verification of differences between variables were performed using the Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The level of significance α = 0.05 (p < 0.05)

Results: A “Wounds treatment” specialist course was completed by 31.8% of respondents. Respondents’ knowledge, concerning the treatment of chronic wounds, assessed on a 0-10 scale amounted to an average of 5.85 point. Nurses with higher education, who have completed the “Wounds treatment” course received significantly higher scores (p = 0.0351) compared to the group with secondary education (p = 0.0317). The general level of knowledge about bedsores among the respondents was 24.40 ±6.72, with a range-point scale from 0 to 49 points.

Conclusions: The studied group present unsatisfactory level of knowledge about wounds’ prevention and treatment in relation to the PTLR recommendations. Completing the “Wound treatment” course had a significant impact on the level of knowledge respondents.