Pressure Injuries in the Emergency Department: Prevalence and Healthcare Professionals’ Knowledge Levels-A Pilot Study

OpenAlex İngilizce

BACKGROUND/AIMS:Patients in emergency departments (EDs) are a risk group in terms of pressure injuries. MATERIALS AND METHODS:We conducted this descriptive study to determine both the prevalence of pressure injuries (PIs) in EDs and the level of knowledge of healthcare professionals working there regarding PIs.This study was a pilot study.The point prevalence study in the ED was conducted on 17.12.2018with 23 patients who were being treated in the ED for more than 2 hours and who voluntarily participated in this study.A questionnaire to determine the level of knowledge of health professionals working in the ED was carried out with 16 physicians and 17 nurses working in the ED between 17-23 December, 2018.The data of this study were collected using The Demographic Questionnaire, Pressure Injuries Knowledge form, and Pressure Injuries Assessment form. RESULTS:The prevalence of PIs in the patients followed up within the scope of this study was 17.4%; 85.71% of them were hospital-acquired injuries; 57.14% of them were stage 1; and 71.4% of them were related to medical devices.The mean knowledge test score of the participating physicians and nurses was 54.18±13.08.The mean knowledge test scores of the physicians and nurses who had received training on PIs were found to be higher than those who had not received training, and the difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). CONCLUSION:Healthcare professionals need to evaluate patients holistically, take precautions to avoid PIs, evaluate patients in terms of the risk of developing PIs, and provide treatment and care.Therefore, training about PIs should be given to healthcare professionals working in emergency departments.