Knowledge and practices of nurses in orthopedic wards concerning cast care

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the knowledge and practice of all nurses that work in orthopedic wards at the main teaching hospital in Baghdad city and it's relation with certain variables such as years of experience, and level of education. Two instruments were developed for the evaluation. The knowledge evaluation was done by using of multiple choice type of questions and the evaluation of skills was done by using of observation check list. Analysis of data revealed that nurses working in the orthopedic wards possessing satisfied knowledge, which is important in giving care to patient in cast and it was found that [20%] of the sample got excellent scores, [35%] of them get very good, and the same percentage got good. In relation to the evaluation of nurses skills by observation check list, it was found that the skills of the nurses were inadequate only [2.5%] of the sample got score of good, while [82.5%] of them got poor scores. Significant correlation was found between the knowledge and practice of the sample, with their correlation between the knowledge and practices of the nurses with the years of experience. Regarding sources of knowledge and practice in orthopedic wards, none of them mentioned that they had an intensive course in orthopedic wards. According to the result of this study, the investigator recommends the following establish assessment sheet for periodic evaluation of nurses knowledge and practice, to establish written procedures and policies in orthopedic wards to be followed by nurses and refreshing courses for nurses according to the technological advances in nursing management of patients care