Perceived Knowledge regarding Braden Scale among Critical Care Nurses

Abstract

Background: Pressure ulcer is a common and traumatic health condition, especially in the elderly or physically impaired and most bedridden patients. More than 80% of a bedridden patient will always develop bedsores. The Braden scale is a widely used pressure ulcer risk assessment tool. The current study focuses on assessing the level of knowledge of critical care nurses on pressure ulcer prevention using the Braden scale. Methods: The researcher adopted descriptive survey design for this study. The sample of the current study consisted of 60 staff nurses who meet the inclusion criteria. The samples in this study were selected by non-probability convenient sampling method. Demographic variables, structured knowledge questionnaires were used as tools for this study. The analysis was performed using descriptive and inferential statistics in terms of frequency distributions, percentages, mean, standard deviation and Chi square tests. Results: Among the samples, 18% had inadequate knowledge, 60% had moderate knowledge and 22% had adequate knowledge regarding use of Braden scale. It was also found that there was significant association between level of knowledge of critical care nurses with their selected demographic variables such as age, years of working experience in critical care and previous training on use of Braden scale. Conclusion: Majority of critical care nurses in PESIMR, Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh had moderate level of knowledge regarding use of Braden scale for prevention of pressure ulcer.