Nurses' knowledge to identify early acute kidney injury

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the knowledge of nurses on early identification of acute kidney injury (AKI) in intensive care, emergency and hospitalization units. Method: A prospective multi-center study was conducted with 216 nurses, using a questionnaire with 10 questions related to AKI prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Results: 57.2% of nurses were unable to identify AKI clinical manifestations, 54.6% did not have knowledge of AKI incidence in patients admitted to the ICU, 87.0% of the nurses did not know how to answer as regards the AKI mortality rate in patients admitted to the ICU, 67.1% answered incorrectly that slight increases in serum creatinine do not have an impact on mortality, 66.8% answered incorrectly to the question on AKI prevention measures, 60.4% answered correctly that loop diuretics for preventing AKI is not recommended, 77.6% answered correctly that AKI does not characterize the need for hemodialysis, and 92.5% said they had no knowledge of the Acute Kidney Injury Network classification. Conclusion: Nurses do not have enough knowledge to identify early AKI, demonstrating the importance of qualification programs in this field of knowledge.