A Survey of Turkish Nurses' Knowledge of Incontinence-Associated Dermatitis

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge of incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD) among nurses working in intensive care units. DESIGN: Descriptive study. SUBJECTS AND SETTING: The study was conducted in 6 intensive care units of a 550-bed academic research hospital in Turkey. Licensed practical and registered nurses with a minimum of a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree employed full-time on these units were invited to participate. METHODS: The survey consisted of statements that examined the demographic characteristics (14 questions) and knowledge levels (59 statements) of the nurses. For each statement, nurses were required to mark only one of the following options: "correct," "incorrect," or "no knowledge." Data were collected from July to September 2016. The Shapiro-Wilk test, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis H test, post hoc multiple comparison test, and Spearman's correlation coefficient were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Of the 126 RNs who participated in the study, 46.83% (n = 59) had an undergraduate degree in nursing. The majority (29.37%) practiced in gastroenterology surgery and urology intensive care units. The mean knowledge score was 33.05 +/- 10.16 (min = 0, max = 59). The most correctly answered statement (94.44%; n = 119) was "The pH of the skin plays a role in skin barrier function." The statement with the most incorrect or "no knowledge" answers (96.03%; n = 120) was "The natural moisturizing factor found in the structure of corneocytes helps the skin to maintain its oil levels." Based on correctly answered statements, we found knowledge levels of the prevention and treatment of IAD were higher among nurses with a master of science degree in nursing (40.67 +/- 4.32) and lower among licensed practical nursing (29.12 +/- 10.08) (P < .05). CONCLUSION: In this study, knowledge of the nurses on identification, prevention, and treatment of IAD was low. Comprehensive basic nursing education and in-service training programs on IAD are recommended.