A survey of nurses' wound assessment knowledge, attitude and competence in Nigeria

Background Wound assessment is an integral component of wound management that improves patient wound healing outcomes. Aim This study aimed to assess nurses' knowledge, attitude and competence in wound assessment in Nigeria. Methods This descriptive, cross-sectional study utilised a structured questionnaire based on relevant literature and wound assessment guidelines for data collection. Results A total of 182 registered nurses participated in the study. Nearly 75% of the participants had diploma nursing education but had not attended any post-nursing training wound care program. More than half of the nurses demonstrated a high level of knowledge (n=96, 52.7%) in wound assessment overall, except in wound aetiology, wound size measurement, undermining and wound bed tissues. Also, 51.1% of the nurses had a positive attitude (n=93) and low competence (n=171, 94%) in wound assessment. Wound assessment was mostly perceived as physicians' responsibility and not that of nurses. There was no significant association between nurses' competence and knowledge (chi(2)=0.24, p=0.81) and their attitude to wound assessment (chi(2)=0.15, p=0.73). Conclusion Many of the nurses lacked competence in wound assessment and demonstrated a deficiency in their knowledge and attitude, thus suggesting the need for in-service education of nurses on wound assessment procedures and regular updates of nurses' knowledge, skill and competence in Nigeria.