Radiation Protection Knowledge for Nurses at King Abdulaziz Medical City-Jeddah in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Ionizing radiation is widely used as a diagnostic and treatment tool in healthcare. Nurses play a significant role in healthcare environments, accompanying patients during examinations, including exposure to inward X-ray procedures, and requiring them to keep up with radiation safety protocols. This study aims to assess the radiation knowledge and understanding of the ionizing radiation physics, protection, and safety principles of the associated hazards among nurses. Enhancing safety culture and establishing standardized guidelines at both national and international levels are crucial for developing radiation protection measures for nurses.Materials and Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, a validated self-administered survey was conducted in person with 40 nurses at King Abdulaziz Medical City in Jeddah. The Healthcare Professional Knowledge of Radiation Protection (HPKRP) scale is distributed via an online platform using Google Forms. Data were analyzed using JMP Pro 14 software (SAS Institute Inc. ; 1989–2019). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to evaluate associations related to the HPKRP scale.Results and Discussion: Nurses reported the highest knowledge level in safe ionizing radiation guidelines, with a mean of 6.26±2.74. The second highest is radiation protection with 5.97± 3.00, but low knowledge levels in radiation physics and radiation use principle have a mean of 4.15±2.60. The SEM explained significant direct pathways were knowledge/safety and knowledge/ protection (<i>p</i><0.001), but also a significant indirect pathway to knowledge/principle (<i>p</i>=0.035).Conclusion: Previous research in Saudi Arabia has investigated nurses’ awareness of radiation; however, none have used the HPKRP scale, indicating a gap that warrants further investigation. This study highlighted the crucial role of radiation education for healthcare organizations to enhance the knowledge and training standards for all nurses who work with or are exposed to ionizing radiation.