Safety Nursing Measures for Patients Undergoing Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

Endoscopy services are the cornerstone of diagnosis and treatment in gastroenterology.Over the past 100 years, there has been a dramatic and explosive growth of information andtechnology related to the science and practice of gastroenterology. The endoscopy nurse isresponsible for ensuring patient‘s physical safety and psychological well-being before, duringand after endoscopy procedure to prevent any hazards or avoidable complications. Objective:To assess safety nursing measures applied for the patients undergoing upper Gastrointestinal(GI) endoscopy. Settings: The study was carried out at 18 gastroenterology endoscopy units,12 units in Alexandria governorate and 6 units in Damanhour city. Subjects: Subjectscomprised all nurses working in the previously mentioned settings total of 50 nurses whoembraced 32 and 18 in Alexandria and Damanhour respectively. Tools: Two tools weredeveloped to collect the necessary data; Upper (GI) Endoscopy Unit Assessment Checklistand Upper (GI) Endoscopy Safety Nursing Measures Observational Checklist. Results: Astatistically significant correlation between training and performance of safety nursingmeasures after endoscopy was revealed. Practice of nurses with bachelor degree illustratedhigher safety measures than those with technical and secondary schools diploma before andafter the upper GI endoscopy procedure. Technical nurses illustrated higher safety measuresduring the procedure than the other nurses. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the highestavailable and adequate upper gastrointestinal endoscopy unit s physical setup structure andfacilities were found in the private hospitals and clinics followed by health insurance,university and governmental hospitals respectively. Moreover, the Practice of nurses whoreceived pre and in-service training related to GI endoscopy procedure, illustrated moresafety measures than those who didn t receive such training programs. Recommendations: Itwas recommended to promote gastrointestinal endoscopy unit with the necessary units physical structure design and facilities in order to reach the optimal standard. As well; theprovision of pre-service and in-service training programs for nurses working in those UpperGastrointestinal Endoscopy units is very important to maintain safety nursing measures forpatients undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopy.