HEMODYNAMIC MONITORING: RELATIONSHIP OF NURSES' KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES TO PATIENTS' OUTCOME

Abstract

Invasive Hemodynami c monitoring has become one of the major skill areas necessary for the critical care nurse. Man y comp lications can arise as consequences for the presence of central venous (C.V) and\ or arterial line (A.L) catheters. These complications can be life threatening. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of nurses' knowledge and practices to patient's outcome concerning the C. V and A.L man agement. Patients' outcome refers to the problems\ complications that might be developed. Four research questions were formulated: (1) Wh at do the critical care nurses know about management of patients connected with C. V and A.L? (2) How do critical care nurses manage patients connected with C.V and A.L? (3) Wh at is the incidence of C.V and A.L complications or problems among critically ill patients? (4) Is there a relationship between nurses' knowledge and practices concerning C.V.P. and A.L. and the incidence of lines complications\ problems? The study sample comprised 300 patients and 60 nurses. Thr ee tools were utilized for data collection (a) A questionnaire sheet covering sciodemographic data, knowledge related to C. V and A.L management and complications. (b) Two checklists to evaluate nurses' performance in relation to the care of C. V and A.L (c) Assessment sheet to record lines comp lications\ problems that might arise durin g hospitalization. Structured interviews and direct observation were utilized for data collection. Majority of patients (65% & 75%) developed C.V and A.L complications respectively .Infe ction represented 69.2% & 75.5% of these complications. Nurses knowledge about infection control concernin g C.V and A.L was unsatisfactory in percentages of (66.6% & 68.3%) respectively, as well a bout complications among (68.3 & 63.3%) respectively. In conclusion, knowledge and practices about infection control and comp lications of C.V and A.L were unsatisfactory among critical care nurses. As well a large number of patients connected to these lines developed complications. Lines infection represented the first rank . Replication of this study is recomm ended in different geographical locations on a larger probability sample to achieve more generalization results.