Assessment Of Jordanian Nurses' Knowledge To Perform Glasgow Coma Scale

Abstract

The most important assessment of neurological examination in the clinical setting is assessing level of consciousness. The first neurological tool used to assess patients' level of consciousness was the Glasgow Coma Scale. It is considered as the most common less subjective gold standard coma assessment tool. The purpose of this study was to assess Jordanian nurses' knowledge about Glasgow Coma Scale. A non-experimental, descriptive cross-sectional correlational design was performed in four (3 private hospitals and 1 governmental) hospitals in Amman-Jordan. A self-reported questionnaire was answered by all (ICU, CCU, ER, and Telemetry) nurses who accepted to participate in the study. A total of 200 questionnaires were distributed to the participants with 90% response rate ending with 180 questionnaires in the final analysis. More than half of the sample (56.7%) was males. The participants were young nurses with mean age of 26.3±8 years. The total mean score for the whole sample was 7.38 ± 1.96. There was no relationship between experience, level of education, and training course and knowledge level. Nurses working in accredited hospitals and governmental hospitals recorded more level of knowledge than other hospitals. Emergency Room nurses recorded less level of knowledge than other area of practice. In conclusion, knowledge about Glasgow Coma Scale is a global problem. Jordanian nurses, as other nurses, have inadequate knowledge to perform Glasgow Coma Scale assessment. It is vital and necessary to include educational programs about Glasgow Coma Scale for nurses in all areas of practice and in the curricula of nursing colleges.

Exploring Nurses’ Knowledge of the Glasgow Coma Scale in Intensive Care and Emergency Departments at a Tertiary Hospital in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia

“…This suggestion is also in harmony with a previous study (Santos et al, 2016), which elaborated that nurses who attended a GCS training workshop had greater understanding of the GCS compared with nurses who had not undertaken such training (Al-Quraan & AbuRuz, 2016). The study also reported that training increased GCS knowledge, and improved nurses' work performance (Al-Quraan & AbuRuz, 2016). In Shehab, Ibrahim & Abd-Elkader's analysis (2018), a correct GCS assessment is unachievable without experienced, competent, welltrained nurses, especially in the ICU and the emergency department.…”

“…In contrast, Ehwarieme & Anarado (2016) suggested that reinforcement of GCS information facilitates GCS learning among nurses. This suggestion is also in harmony with a previous study (Santos et al, 2016), which elaborated that nurses who attended a GCS training workshop had greater understanding of the GCS compared with nurses who had not undertaken such training (Al-Quraan & AbuRuz, 2016). The study also reported that training increased GCS knowledge, and improved nurses' work performance (Al-Quraan & AbuRuz, 2016).…”

“…This finding confirms Mattar, Liaw & Chan's (2013) finding that ICU nurses' are constantly exposed to patients with neurological disorder. As a result ICU nurses made more accurate GCS assessments and fewer assessment errors (Al-Quraan & AbuRuz, 2016). In addition, Al-Quraan & AbuRuz (2016) reported that the ICU has an annual competency evaluation that included a concise meeting about assessing the level of consciousness among Jordanian nurses.…”

“…Healthcare professionals (HCPs) are anticipated to be imbued with related theoretical and practice experience to deliver quality patient care, which involves complete and continuous patient assessment (Al-Quraan & AbuRuz, 2016). Nurses' continuous assessments often involve neurological patients, specifically, the level of consciousness, which is considered the central assessment criterion (Al-Quraan & AbuRuz, 2016). There are numerous tools for assessing patients' neurological status (Basauhra Singh et al, 2016).…”

Knowledge of the Glasgow Coma Scale among Nurses in a Tertiary Hospital in Ghana

“…In the same country, 33% of nurses in a study to assess nurses' knowledge of the GCS had poor knowledge [9]. Similar studies conducted in Malaysia, Jordan, and Iraq also reported inadequate knowledge of the GCS among nurses [10–12]. In Vietnam, while 90% of nurses in a study were able to answer basic questions about the GCS correctly, 52.1% of the nurses answered incorrectly questions related to clinical scenarios requiring the application of the basic knowledge [13].…”