Abstract:
Wound cleaning and dressing is one of the main
responsibilities of nurses and nursing undergraduates.
Better awareness on wound cleaning and dressing minimizes
the wound infections, healing time, pain during the
procedure, as well as duration of hospital stay. Indirectly
this will minimize the government expenditure on wound
management and enhances the patient’s quality of life.
According to the literature review, a paucity of research
exists that describes nurses’ awareness on wound cleaning
and dressing. Published data regarding this aspect in Sri
Lanka also scares. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess
the current awareness among nursing undergraduates
of Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, University of
Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. A descriptive, cross-sectional
study was carried among one hundred and fifty-one
(n=151) nursing undergraduates using a self- administered
questionnaire conducted from March to June, 2016. The
questionnaire was piloted with 10 nursing students and
ethical clearance was obtained from the Ethical Clearance
Committee in Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, University
of Peradeniya. Data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel
and R-studio statistical software. Overall, their average
knowledge score was 68 % (SD 12.5%) and the study
revealed that nursing undergraduates of Faculty of Allied
Health Sciences, University of Peradeniya are having
sound knowledge on aseptic techniques to follow during
wound cleaning and dressing (mean score 78%). Though,
there are gaps in their knowledge with respect to different
wound cleaning solutions and techniques, management
of special wounds such as burn wounds, venous/diabetic
ulcers, neonatal/infant wounds as well as newly available
dressing products in the market. Therefore, it is better
to develop an effective educational program to enhance
the awareness and supervise undergraduates closely
while performing rather than rely on self reported data.
Moreover, results of this study cannot be generalized to
the whole population of nursing undergraduates in Sri
Lanka. Therefore, it is suggested to repeat the study in
representative samples from both public and private
institutions that offer nursing degree in Sri Lanka.
