Publication

Abstract : Background and Objectives: A descriptive exploratory study to assess the knowledge and skill of critical care nurses on endotracheal (ET) suctioning was conducted in the eight Intensive Care Units of AIMS, Kochi. The objectives of the study were (1) to assess the knowledge of critical care nurses on ET suctioning, (2) to assess the clinical skill of critical care nurses in performing ET suctioning, and (3) to find out the correlation between knowledge and clinical skill of critical care nurses on ET suctioning.Materials and Methods: The sampling technique used was nonprobability convenience (n = 50).Results: Majority of the participants (70%) had an acceptable level of knowledge. Most of the participants (64%) had least acceptable level of knowledge on the actual suction event and 54% on postsuctioning practice. The nurses who had an acceptable level of skill in performing ET suctioning were 56% whereas skill in practices before suctioning was least acceptable in 86% of the nurses. A significant difference (P 0.001) was obtained between the current practice observed and the best recommended practice on ET suctioning. The elements of ET suctioning which were not followed by majority of the nurses include auscultation of chest (2%), postsuctioning assessment (2%), wearing apron (6%), maintaining suction pressure (10%), reassuring the patient before (30%) and after suctioning (18%), hand washing before (42%) and after suctioning (28%), time of suction applied (36%), and maintaining the suction catheter's sterility (46%).Interpretation and Conclusion: Even though nurses had an acceptable level of knowledge and skill, inadequacies exist in the practice of various phases of ET suctioning. Hence, training on ET suctioning could be focused specifically to those phases.Keywords: Critical care nurses, endotracheal suctioning, knowledge, skill