Knowledge and practice of pressure injury prevention and treatment among nurses in the university of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria, 2019

Context: Pressure injuries are localized damage to the skin or underlying tissue that usually occurs over a bony prominence areas as a result of usually long-term pressure that occurs by staying in one position for too long. This preventable threat makes patient stay in the hospital longer than it should be; raised the cost of patient care, cause pain and discomfort, which is totally not acceptable in the health care system. Aims: Consequently, this study aims to examine the knowledge and practice of nurses towards pressure injury prevention in very ill patients and also to evaluate the method used in the prevention and treatment of a patient that is at high risks, such as diabetic patients. Setting and Design: This is a descriptive research design conducted on Nurses at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria, 2019. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted among 200 nurses from different wards and units through a stratified probability sampling method, and a self-structured questionnaire were designed, administered, and retrieved. Statistical Analysis Used: Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, mean, and standard deviation at 0.05 levels of significance through the Statistical Package for the Social Science software. Results: The knowledge of Nurses on pressure injury treatment and prevention had a mean score of 34 (±0.29). The result also revealed a low level of practice of pressure injury prevention with composite percentage scores of 39.5%. Conclusion: There is good knowledge toward pressure injury prevention, but the practice level is low and this is found to be associated with a shortage of workforce and availability of materials for the prevention of pressure injury. Therefore, the hospital managers should employ more nurses to facilitate and improve the quality of care given to the nonambulant patient in the hospital to prevent pressure injury.