Evaluation of nurses awareness and practice of hemodialysis access care in Khartoum state, Sudan.

Abstract

Introduction: In hemodialysis (HD) wards, nurses play a pivotal role in HD access care. Unfortunately, guideline recommendations for routine preventive care are not always followed. This study was designed to evaluate nurses' awareness and practice of HD access care in Khartoum state, Sudan.

Methods: The study included 50 randomly selected HD nurses. Nurses' knowledge was evaluated using a participant-filled questionnaire and their practice was evaluated by direct monitoring. Variables were summarized as frequencies and related to nurses' educational level.

Results: Females constituted 72% of study participants and 85% were university graduates. Half the nurses had more than two years experience in HD centers. Structured training on HD machines and HD access care was received by 56% and 54% of respondents respectively. All participants stated that proper HD access care helps prevent access infection but only 54% stated that it helps in preserving access function. Most nurses (98%) stated that hand hygiene in HD centers was necessary to prevent infection but only 70% were adherent to hand hygiene before access manipulation. Most nurses (98%) evaluated HD access function before connection but only 52% evaluated it for signs of infection. Nurses with a bachelor degree tended to be more adherent to hand hygiene (72.5 versus 42.9%, P=0.1) and the use of gloves (100% versus 85.7%, P=0.1) compared to nurses with a diploma degree, but the difference was not statistically significant.

Conclusion: HD nurses adherence to the recommended infection control measures in studied HD centers was suboptimal. HD centers are required to organize adequate training on HD access care for their nursing staff.