Preventing pressure ulcers in patients in intensive care units

Abstract

Objective: to identify nurses' knowledge and attitudes about pressure injury prevention in patients in the intensive care unit. Method: a bibliographic search was carried out in April 2020, in the EBSCOhost platform (selecting the Academic Search Complete, CINAHL Complete and MedicLatina databases), in MEDLINE (through the Pubmed platform), in Scopus and in Web of Science. After application of the inclusion and exclusion criteria, eight primary articles were examined. Results: the nurses' level of knowledge proved to be insufficient and their attitudes, positive. The main influencing factors were age, years of professional experience, education and training in pressure injuries. Conclusion: the nurses’ level of knowledge regarding the prevention of pressure injuries needs to be assessed and educational programs, created and implemented.