BMC Nurs. 2025 May 12;24(1):516. doi: 10.1186/s12912-025-02947-8.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Pressure injuries can greatly affect a patient’s health, safety, and quality of life. The knowledge and attitudes of nurses towards preventing pressure injuries are vital for providing safe, high-quality healthcare. Nursing in Kuwait suffers from a research gap on this topic.
METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in the public general hospitals of Kuwait to assess nurses’ knowledge and attitudes and to measure the point prevalence of pressure injuries and prevention measures. An online form, a Modified Pieper’s Pressure Ulcer Knowledge Test and the Moore and Price scale were used to gather data, covering variables related to hospitals, nurses, patients, pressure injuries, and prevention practices. We processed and analysed data using Microsoft Excel and SPSS 23.
RESULTS: The median score of nurses’ knowledge on preventing pressure injuries was 73.2% (IQR: 68.3-78.0), and only 31.7% of the knowledge test items were answered correctly by 90% of participants or more. The median attitude score was 41.0 (IQR: 37.0-44.0). There were statistically significant strong positive correlations between nurses’ age, years of work experience, attitude score, and the percentage of trained staff complying with measures against pressure injury. Attitude score had a statistically significant and strongly negative correlation with the rate of hospital-acquired pressure injury. The predictors of knowledge score were age, sex, and years since the most recent training was undertaken. Knowledge and a nurse’s highest level of education were predictors of attitude scores.
CONCLUSIONS: This study offers inestimable insights into the field. The study’s results reveal that nurses’ knowledge is unsatisfactory to borderline satisfactory, whereas attitudes are positive. Despite this, the positive attitude is neither reflected in staff compliance with practices aimed at preventing pressure injury nor the rate of hospital-acquired pressure injury. We recommend implementing effective training programmes to bridge these gaps.
CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.
PMID:40355899 | DOI:10.1186/s12912-025-02947-8
