Operating room nurses' self-reported knowledge and attitude on perioperative pressure injury

Surgical patients are at risk of developing a perioperative pressure injury (ORPI) during surgery. Accurate assessment and prompt implementation of prevention strategies or treatment of ORPI are dependent on knowledge and skills of operating room (OR) nurses. The study examined the knowledge and attitude of OR nurses in identifying at-risk patients. A cross-sectional, prospective, descriptive study was adopted. OR nurses were invited to complete the survey using the attitude towards pressure ulcer prevention instrument (Cronbach α of 0.79) and pressure ulcer knowledge assessment tool (Cronbach α of 0.77). Approximately, 28% of OR nurses took part in the survey. Most of them were females (99%) with a mean age of 38.4 ± 12.9 years old. Of these, 73% of the nurses described not having adequate experience in preventing ORPI, and 88% of them were uncertain about the treatment strategies. The mean overall knowledge score was 47.8 ± 9.1% for this cohort. The study demonstrated that approximately 8.9% of OR nurses passed with a score ≥ 60% for knowledge. The mean overall attitude score was 74.6 ± 6.1% for this cohort. About 35.6% of these nurses gave positive scores of greater than 75% for attitudes. The knowledge scores have no relationship with the working experience, role responsibility, academic qualification, ethnicity, nationality, and gender except for age 35 years older or equal and younger. Still, both the knowledge and attitude scores obtained have a strong relationship with the nurses' experiences with PI prevention. Personal competency to prevent PI has a strong correlation with risk identifying and preventing PI. There are strong associations between being responsible for PI development and the knowledge on risk identification and prevention of PI. The attitude regarding the prioritisation of PI prevention is also strongly correlated to the nurses' knowledge in preventing PI. Positive attitudes of OR nurses have no relationship with the overall knowledge scores. The prevention of ORPI is not on the list of priorities among OR nurses. The knowledge of preventive measures and risk identification of PI was limited among local OR nurses. Incorporating a standard screening and assessment tool within the current assessment list will support and promote ORPI risk assessment and continuous assessment. Contextualised education on ORPI prevention and management should be considered part of the training for OR nurses.