Ophthalmic nurses' knowledge, attitude, and practice toward venous thromboembolic prevention: A dual-center cross-sectional survey

Abstract

Background Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a severe preventable complication among ophthalmic surgical patients. The knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of nurses play a key role ineffective VTE prevention. However,little is known about the KAP of ophthalmic nurses’ prevention. This study aimed toexamine the level of KAPtoward VTE prevention among Chinese ophthalmic nurses, and to investigate the influencing factors of VTE practice. Design Cross-sectional study. Methods A total of 610 ophthalmic nurses from 17 cities in Hunan and Zhejiang Provinces, China, participated in our study. Data was collected via Sojump online platform from March to April 2021. A self-administered VTE questionnaire was developed to assess nurses' KAP toward VTE prevention. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to analyze the influencing factors of ophthalmicnurses’ VTE prevention practice. Results The scores (correct rates) of ophthalmic nurses’ knowledge, attitude, and practice were 103.87 ± 20.50 (76.4%), 21.96 ± 2.72, and 48.96 ± 11.23 (81.6%), respectively. The three lowest-scored knowledge items were related to VTE complications, physical prevention, and risk assessment. The three lowest-scored attitude items were related to nurses' training, VTE risk, and patient education. The three lowest-scored practice items were related to the assessment scale, VTE assessment, and patient education. Nurses’ knowledge, attitude, and practice were significantly correlated with each other. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that Hunan Province (B = 2.77, p = 0.006), general hospital (B = 2.97, p = 0.009), outpatient department (B = 3.93, p = 0.021), inpatient department (B = 2.50, p = 0.001), previous VTE prevention training (B = 3.46, p < 0.001), VTE prevention management in hospital (B = 4.93, p < 0.001), better knowledge (B = 0.04, p = 0.038), and positive attitude towards VTE prevention (B = 1.35, p < 0.001) were all significantly and positively associated with higher practice scores in VTE prevention. Conclusion Ophthalmic nurses generally have a satisfactory level of KAP in VTE prevention, but there is still room for improvement in certain areas. Nurses’ practice in VTE prevention was affected by environmental factors, training and management, knowledge and attitude, which may inform future intervention and education programs to improve VTE prevention.

Ophthalmic nurses’ knowledge, attitude, and practice toward venous thromboembolic prevention: a dual-center cross-sectional survey

“…This cross-sectional study was conducted from March 10 to April 30 2021 among ophthalmic nurses in Hunan and Zhejiang Provinces, China. Portions of this text were previously published as part of a preprint/thesis ( Zhou et al, 2023 ).…”