Nurses' Knowledge and Practice Regarding Care of Patients Undergoing Chest Tube

Chest tube is a postoperative therapeutic intervention widely applied to the respiratory tract and cardiothoracic care. A chest tube can be a life-saving intervention for patients with pneumothorax, effusion and hem thorax. However, it is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Aim: To assess nurses’ knowledge and practice regarding care of patients undergoing chest tube. Design: A descriptive exploratory study design was used _Setting: Intensive Care Unit, Surgical and Operational Departments, in El-Mahalla Chest Hospital, and El-Mahalla Cardiac Center. Sample: A convenient sample of all available nurses (60 nurses )who work with patient undergoing chest tube. Tools: 1) Self-administered interview questionnaire consists of two parts part 1: Nurse’s demographic data characteristics, part 2: Nurse’s knowledge about chest tube. Tool 2) Observational checklist. Results: Findings of the present study showed that more than one third (41.7%) of the studied nurses had average knowledge regarding management of patient with chest tube drainage. While one third and less than one quarter (35% &23.3%) of them had poor and good knowledge, respectively. Moreover, nearly two-thirds (60%) of the studied nurses had incompetent practice regarding management of patient with chest tube drainage. On the other hand more than one third (40%) of them had competent practice regarding management of patient with chest tube drainage. Finally, There was a highly statistical correlation between total nurse's knowledge and their total practice regarding management of patient with chest tube drainage (P<0.01). Conclusion: the majority of the studied nurses had insufficient knowledge and practice regarding management of patient with chest tube drainage. Recommendations: 1) Development of in-service training programs to maintain efficient performance of nurses, 2) Replication of the study on a larger sample and in different geographical areas in Egypt for generalization of findings.