Nurses’ knowledge of pressure ulcer management related to monitoring the financial costs of pressure ulcer treatment: a prospective intervention study

Background A good level of knowledge among healthcare professionals in pressure ulcer (PU) management is integral to monitoring the cost-effectiveness of PU responses. AimThe study aimed to assess the level of nurses' knowledge about the management of PUs through a standardised Pressure Ulcer Knowledge Test (PUKT) questionnaire at different stages: before and after targeted education.Design This was a prospective intervention study using the PUKT with pre-test, online education, post-test I, face-to-face education, and post-test II phases.Settings 117 nurses (pre-test), 106 nurses (post-test I after online education), and 145 nurses (post-test II after face-to-face education) from a Czech university hospital's Surgical, Internal, and Anaesthesiology Departments.Full stratified sampling was used.Method Statistical analysis of the data was performed using the Chi-squared test and Fisher's exact test, a nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test, and Mann-Whitney rank test at the statistical level <0.05 and multiple linear regression.Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 28.0 software was used for calculations. ResultsThe pre-test and post-test I score were consistent (74.2% and 74.1%, respectively).Post-test II, after face-to-face education, improved to 93.3%. ConclusionA sufficient level of knowledge is necessary for the subsequent construction of economic models to generate valid data and implement measures at the national level.Repeated education ensures knowledge retention and quality patient care.