Abstract:
Background: Pressure ulcers (PU) are very familiar with incidences of up to 38% in acute care. They
occur following prolonged period of immobility or when there is a neurological deficit. Whenever
they occur, they can lead to a lengthy hospital stay, are costly, and may contribute to premature
mortality in patients. Since nurses are the main care providers, this study aims to find out the level of
awareness of pressure ulcer risk assessment and prevention among nurses in a Kenyan Hospital.
Objective: To determine the level of awareness and perceived barriers of PU risk assessment and
prevention methods among nurses working in the surgical and orthopedic units.
Methodology: This was a descriptive study. The study was done in Surgical and orthopedic units of a
National Hospital in Kenya. All the 90 nurses who were working in these two areas during the study
period were included in the study with a final response rate of 89% (80). Data was collected using
self-administered semi-structured questionnaires and an International PU Knowledge Test.
Qualitative data was cleaned, coded and analyzed thematically while quantitative data was entered in
Excel worksheet and analyzed for descriptive statistics.
Results: The majority of nurses (N= 40%) had inadequate knowledge about PU risk assessment and
prevention. The mean scores of the test, for all participants, was 22.26 out of 41 (SD = 2.3) with the
lowest score in themes related to PU risk assessment, classification, and preventive measures.
Shortage of staff and lack of time were cited as barriers to carrying out PU risk assessment and
prevention.
Conclusion: There is inadequate knowledge among nurses about PU risk assessment and prevention.
Efforts should be made to nurses’ training institutions and hospitals to improve awareness and
practice of PU risk assessment and prevention.
