Management of acute surgical wounds in Saudi Arabia: nursing staff knowledge and practice

Abstract

Objective: Nursing staff play a crucial role in postoperative wound care and management; it is therefore imperative that their knowledge is kept up to date to avoid complications. The overarching objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and practice of nursing staff regarding various aspects of the management of acute surgical wounds.

Method: We conducted a cross-sectional study to assess nurses' clinical knowledge and practices in the management of acute wounds in four large hospitals in Saudi Arabia. The eligible participants included nurses who were working in the medical or surgical departments and those who were employed by the Ministry of Health. We administered a study questionnaire and conducted descriptive analysis to report frequencies and proportions of knowledge and practice aspects.

Results: A total of 360 nurses responded to the survey, giving a response rate of 70%. A total of 221 nurses completed all survey questions. Of the participants, 56.56% were ≥30 years old, 95.48% were female, and 50.02% had >6 years' working experience. With regards to nurses' knowledge: 71.9% of the participants had updated their knowledge about wound care in the past two years; 54.3% perceived their knowledge of the availability of wound products as good; 74.66% correctly reported the classic signs of inflammation; 66.97% correctly identified general signs of wound infection; 84.62% of the sample considered surgical site infection as one complication of surgical wound infection. Only 61.09% of the nurses reported following wound care guidelines, 48.42% considered wound appearance as a highly important factor that influences nurses' choice of surgical dressing products, and 41.63% considered hospital policies and practices as important in making evidence-based decisions in wound management.

Conclusion: This study found that nurses' knowledge about the management of wounds was generally good; however, there were gaps in the practical component which need to be filled to avoid wound complications.

Keywords: Saudi Arabia; acute wounds; management; nurse knowledge and practice; surgical wound; wound; wound care; wound dressing; wound healing.