Awareness on Wound Cleaning and Dressing among Nursing Undergraduates in University of Peradeniya

Abstract

Wound cleaning and dressing is one of the main responsibilities of nurses and nursing undergraduates. Better awareness on wound cleaning and dressing minimizes wound infections, healing time, pain during the procedure, as well as duration of hospital stay. Indirectly this will minimize government expenditure on wound management and will enhance patient’s quality of life. According to literature, there is a paucity of research on nurses’ awareness on wound cleaning and dressing. Published data regarding this aspect in Sri Lanka is also scarce. This study aims to assess current awareness among student nurses of Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, University of Peradeniya. A descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out collecting data from one hundred and fiftyone (151) student nurses using a self-administered questionnaire. The study revealed that nursing students of the faculty have sound knowledge in most aspects related to wound cleaning and dressing. Overall, their average knowledge score was 68 % and there was a significant positive correlation between the duration of clinical exposure and the mean score of the knowledge ( = .83, p < .01). There are gaps in their knowledge with respect to different wound cleaning solutions and techniques, management of special wounds such as burn wounds, venous/diabetic ulcers, neonatal/infant wounds as well as on newly available dressing products in the market. Therefore, it is imperative to develop an effective educational program to enhance awareness and supervise undergraduates closely while performing rather than rely on self-reported data.