Knowledge and Attitudes of Operating Room Nurses Towards Pressure Injury Prevention: A Cross-Sectional Study

Pressure injuries (PI) acquired during surgical procedures remain a serious and under-recognised patient safety concern. Operating room nurses play a critical role in PI prevention; however, their knowledge and attitudes towards preventive practices are often suboptimal and under-explored in the literature. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes of operating room nurses towards PI prevention and to examine the relationship between the two. This descriptive cross-sectional study included 208 operating room nurses from a city hospital in Istanbul, Turkey, between December 2022 and February 2023. Data were collected using the Modified Pieper Pressure Ulcer Knowledge Test (MPPUKT) and the Attitude Towards Pressure Ulcer Prevention Scale (APUP). Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and linear regression analyses were performed using SPSS 25.0. The mean MPPUKT score was 26.63 ± 12.43 (54.5%), with 56.7% of participants scoring below 60%, indicating inadequate knowledge. The lowest subscale scores were observed in staging (44.3%) and wound diagnostics (51.4%). In contrast, the mean APUP score was 38.33 ± 5.38, indicating a generally positive attitude, with the highest scores in the Priority and Impact subdimensions. A moderate, significant positive correlation was found between knowledge and attitude (r = 0.275, p < 0.001). Linear regression analysis confirmed that knowledge significantly predicted attitude scores (β = 0.275, p < 0.001), explaining 7.6% of the variance (R² = 0.076). While operating room nurses exhibit positive attitudes towards PI prevention, their knowledge-particularly in staging and wound assessment-is insufficient. Structured, competency-based educational programmes focusing on high-risk areas may enhance nurses' knowledge and foster more proactive preventive behaviours. Hospital systems should prioritise recurrent training and supportive strategies to promote evidence-based PI prevention practices in surgical settings.