Nurses' knowledge of care of chest drain: A survey in a Nigerian semiurban university hospital

Abstract

Background/Objective:Inefficient nursing care of chest drains may associated with unacceptable and sometimes life-threatening complications. This report aims to ascertain the level of knowledge of care of chest drains among nurses working in wards in a teaching hospital in Nigeria.Methods:A cross-sectional study among nurses at teaching hospital using pretested self-administered questionnaires.Results:The majority were respondents aged between 31 and 40 years (45.4%) and those who have nursing experience between 6 and 10 years. Only 37 respondents (26.2%) had a good knowledge of nursing care of chest drains. Knowledge was relatively higher among nurses who cared for chest drains daily, nurses who have a work experience of <10 years, low-rank nurses and those working in the female medical ward; however, the relationship cant (P > 0.05). Performance was poor on the questions on position of drainage system were not statistically significant with relationship to waist level while mobilizing the patient, application of suction to chest drains, daily changing of dressing over chest drain insertion site, milking of tubes and drainage system with dependent loop.Conclusion:The knowledge of care of chest drains among nurses is poor, especially in the key post procedural care. There is an urgent need to train them so as to improve the nursing care of patients managed with chest drains.

Variation in nurse self‐reported practice of managing chest tubes: A cross‐sectional study

“…Most respondents in this study indicated that dressings would be changed when no longer functional, which is consistent with previous studies in the UK (Parkin, 2002), the Republic of Ireland (Lehwaldt & Timmins, 2005;Magner et al, 2013), Nigeria (Kesieme et al, 2016) and Turkey (Tarhan et al, 2016). Approximately half of respondents indicated that they would change chest-tube dressings routinely, and the frequency of changing dressings varied ranging from daily, every 2 days, every 3 days, every 3-4 days, every 3-7 days or weekly.…”

“…Most respondents indicated that to prevent chest-drainage tubes from becoming blocked, they would routinely manipulate (strip or milk) chest tubes, which was inconsistent with previous studies in the Republic of Ireland in 2013 (Magner et al, 2013), North America (Shalli et al, 2009) and the UK (Parkin, 2002) but closer to previous studies in the Republic of Ireland in 2005 (Lehwaldt & Timmins, 2005), Turkey (Tarhan et al, 2016) and Nigeria (Kesieme et al, 2016). Most respondents also thought that it was necessary to manipulate chest tubes to remove clots when clots impeded unobstructed drainage, which is inconsistent with recommendations from relevant systematic reviews (Charnock & Evans, 2001;Wallen et al, 2002) and a clinical evidence review (Halm, 2007) that drainage-tube manipulation should not be performed due to possible tissue damage and lack of demonstrable benefit.…”

“…Management of and decision-making regarding chest drains are commonly encountered in nursing practice. However, even though sound nursing management of chest drains is vitally important, previous studies conducted in the Republic of Ireland (Lehwaldt & Timmins, 2005, 2007Magner, Houghton, Craig, & Cowman, 2013), the UK (Parkin, 2002;Tang, Hooper, & Hasan, 1999), North America (Shalli et al, 2009), Hong Kong (Lit, 2010), Turkey (Tarhan, G€ okduman, Ayan, & Dalar, 2016) and Nigeria (Kesieme, Essu, Arekhandia, Welcke, & Prisadov, 2016) have indicated that nurses' knowledge and practice in relating to management of chest drains vary widely. These variations may lead to general uncertainty regarding the care of patients with chest drains.…”

Risk Assessment of Clinical Care in Emergency Departments ByHealth Failure Modes and Effects Analysis

“…No study investigated such failure mode. Valencia et al and Kesieme et al found airway suctioning critical [28,29]. Suctioning may reduce airway resistance.…”

“…One of the causes of this clinical error was the lack of awareness to understand the importance of drainage system care. Based on Kesieme et al nurses' knowledge of the care of chest drain is poor and they require education in this area [29].…”