Improving critical care nurses' knowledge of central venous catheter management through education

Central venous catheters are essential in critical care, but mismanagement risks serious complications, making comprehensive nursing knowledge crucial for their proper use and for safeguarding patient safety.

To describe the effect of an 8-week educational intervention on critical care nurses' knowledge of central venous catheter management.

Five critical care units in public hospitals in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

A quasi-experimental, two-group, pre-test-post-test design was used with a convenience sample of nurses working in selected critical care units (intervention n = 72; control n = 50). The intervention group received an 8-week educational intervention including face to face in-service training sessions, written material (brochures) and monitoring visits twice a month, while the control group did not receive this training.

Both groups showed significant knowledge improvements (p < 0.0005), with the intervention group improving more during catheter insertion (+33.7 vs. +23.8; t = -16.68 vs. -5.59) and the control group more after catheter insertion (+33.3 vs. +21.5; t = -7.66 vs. -12.43). The intervention group had significantly higher mean pre-test scores (pre-test: 97.13; post-test: 98.01) compared to the control group (pre-test: 82.91; post-test: 83.76).

The educational intervention showed potential to improve critical care nurses' knowledge of central venous catheter management but require further adaptation and testing. Orientation, mentoring and continued formal training through institutional support and leadership are recommended.

The use of an 8-week educational intervention can improve critical care nurses' knowledge of management of central venous cathether management and may enhance practices, ultimately reducing venous catheter-related complications.