Assessment of nurse's knowledge about Glasgow coma scale at a university hospital

Effect of an educational program on pediatric nurses' knowledge, practice, and self-confidence about level of consciousness scales

BACKGROUND

Nurses of pediatric acute critical care units routinely assess the Level of Consciousness (LOC). The precise, exact, and restriction-free evaluation tool aids pediatric nurses in LOC assessment and clinical decision-making. This study aimed to examine the effect of an educational program on pediatric nurses' knowledge, practice, and self-confidence about level of consciousness scales.

METHODS

This pretest-post, single-group, quasi-experimental, double-site study included 49 pediatric nurses. The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS)/Pediatric Glasgow Coma Scale (PGCS) and Pediatric Full Outline of UnResponsiveness Score Scale (PFSS) knowledge questionnaire and pediatric nurse practice checklist were developed and adopted. Self-reflection confidence statements were rated 1-5 (not confident-confident).

RESULTS

The results of the study indicate that there were significant increases in knowledge, practice, and self-confidence after the intervention. The paired samples tests revealed that knowledge scores significantly increased from the pretest to the posttest for both GCS/PGCS (pretest mean:7.91, posttest mean:9.95) and PFSS (pretest mean:2.1, posttest mean:6.79). Practice scores also showed significant improvement for both GCS/PGCS (pretest mean: 4.12, post-test mean: 6.22) and PFSS (pretest mean: 2.46, post-test mean: 5.79). Furthermore, self-confidence significantly improved for GCS/PGCS (pretest mean:16.08, posttest mean:18.79) and PFSS (pretest mean:10.32, posttest mean:17.81). The statistical analyses supported the significance of these improvements (p < 0.001 for all except self-confidence in GCS/PGCS with p < 0.005).

CONCLUSION

The educational program improved pediatric nurses' GCS/PGCS and PFSS knowledge, practice, and self-confidence.

IMPLICATIONS TO PRACTICE

Effective teaching of pediatric nurses is required to address gaps in care practices and improve the use of the Consciousness Level Assessment Scales.

Knowledge and Practice about Glasgow Coma Scale Assessment among Nurses Working in Adult Intensive Care Units of Federal Public Hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND

The Glasgow Coma Scale is a dependable and objective neurological assessment instrument used for determining and recording a patient's level of consciousness. Therefore, the knowledge, practice, and factors affecting Glasgow coma scale evaluation among nurses working in adult intensive care units of federally administered hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, were investigated.

METHODS

From April 4 to 24, 2020, 121 Adult Intensive Care Unit nurses at Ethiopian federal hospitals participated in an institutional-based cross-sectional survey with a standardized self-administered questionnaire. The information was entered into Epidata version 3.1 and then exported to SPSS version 25.0 for analysis. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regressions were used to examine the relationships between independent and dependent variables.

RESULT

According to this study, nurses working in the Adult Intensive Care Unit of federal hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, had poor knowledge (51.2%) and poor practice (62%) of the Glasgow Coma Scale's basic theoretical notions and competencies. Furthermore, the education and gender of nurses were linked to their level of knowledge and clinical practice. Being a male and having a master's degree were both significantly linked with knowledge(AOR = 4.13, 95% CI: (1.87-9.1)), (AOR=7.4, 95% CI: (1.4-38)) and practice (AOR = 2.7, 95% CI: (1.2-6)), (AOR = 10.4, 95% CI: (2.0-53)) respectively.

CONCLUSION

The findings from this study showed that nurses had poor knowledge and application of practice-related clinical scenarios on the Glasgow Coma Scale.

Knowledge of Glasgow Coma Scale among Nurses in a Tertiary Care Centre: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

Introduction

Glasgow Coma Scale is a dependable and unprejudiced neurological evaluation kit applied for evaluating and recording the level of consciousness of a person. Evaluation of consciousness level using Glasgow Coma Scale is a tool necessitating knowledge which is vital in identifying immediate worsening of level of consciousness. Critical thinking used with skill and knowledge in Glasgow Coma Scale is the groundwork of nursing practice to avoid delay in clinical worsening and treatment. The aim of this study was to find out the prevalence of inadequate knowledge of Glasgow Coma Scale among nurses working in a tertiary care centre.

Methods

A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed among registered nurses working in different wards and Intensive Care Unit at tertiary care centre between 1 June 2022 and 30 June 2022 after receiving ethical approval from the Institutional Review Committee (Reference number: 2905202211). Convenience sampling was done. Self-administered structured questionnaires were used to collect data to assess the knowledge of Glasgow Coma Scale. Point estimate and 95% Confidence Interval were calculated.

Results

Among 91 nurses, inadequate knowledge of the Glasgow Coma Scale was found in 48 nurses (52.70%) (42.30-63.10, 95 % Confidence Interval).

Conclusions

The prevalence of inadequate knowledge of the Glasgow Coma Scale among nurses was found to be similar when compared to other studies done in similar settings.

Keywords

glasgow coma scale; knowledge; nurses; tertiary care centre.

Cross mapping between clinical indicators for assistance in intensive care and nursing interventions

OBJECTIVE

Identify the main clinical indicators for assistance in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and map them in the nursing interventions described by the Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC).

METHODS

Integrative literature review study, followed by cross-mapping between clinical indicators for assistance in the ICU care and NIC nursing interventions and activities.

RESULTS

36 articles were identified, which resulted in 285 clinical indicators for ICU care, with mechanical ventilatory assistance, pain, sedation, psychomotor agitation, delirium, anxiety, altered heart rate, diet by naso tube / oroenteral and diarrhea the clinical indicators for assistance in the ICU the most prevalent. These were mapped in 12 Nursing Interventions Classification interventions and 130 nursing activities.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

It is concluded that the clinical indicators for ICU care associated with Nursing Interventions Classification are concrete data that assist intensive care nurses in their clinical practice.

Clinical evolution and survival of neurocritical patients

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the clinical evolution and survival of neurocritical patients in Hospital Units.

METHOD

Cohort with hospitalized patients in follow-up treatment in public and private hospitals between September 2012 and June 2016. Data were initially analyzed from descriptive and inferential statistics. The Kaplan-Meier indicator was applied as a form of survival analysis. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to analyze the prognostic factors by calculating the hazard ratio.

RESULTS

Participation of 1,289 patients in the study. Patients with a higher score on the Glasgow Coma Scale presented greater survival, and the one-point increase in the scale score corresponded to 42% improvement in their survival. In the analysis of survival, sex and the use of vasoactive drugs showed a significant difference.

CONCLUSION

Female patients with a better score on the Glasgow Coma Scale and using vasoactive drugs had higher survival rates.

Association between the Japan Coma Scale scores at the scene of injury and in-hospital outcomes in trauma patients: an analysis from the nationwide trauma database in Japan

OBJECTIVE

Japan Coma Scale (JCS) is a grading system used to evaluate disturbed consciousness in prehospital care settings. We aimed to identify the association between the JCS levels at the scene with in-hospital mortality, as well as the discrimination ability for the outcomes.

DESIGN

A retrospective cohort study based on the nationwide trauma database in Japan.

SETTING

Multicentre cohort study using data from the Japan Trauma Data Bank, which is a nationwide, prospective, observational trauma registry derived from 235 hospitals.

PARTICIPANTS

Adult trauma victims transferred directly from the scene of injury to the hospital from January 2004 to December 2017 were eligible for inclusion.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOMES

Primary outcome was the association between the JCS levels at the scene with in-hospital mortality. We conducted a multivariate logistic regression analysis to calculate the adjusted ORs of JCS levels with 95% CIs for in-hospital mortality. We also calculated the c-statistics for in-hospital mortality.

RESULTS

164 723 patients were included in the analysis. In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, the corresponding adjusted ORs of JCS levels 2 and 3 referred to level 1 for in-hospital mortality were 4.1 (95% CI 3.8 to 4.4) and 26.0 (95% CI 24.8 to 27.2). The c-statistics of the JCS level for in-hospital mortality was 0.845 (95% CI 0.842 to 0.849).

CONCLUSIONS

Data from large multicentre prospective registry revealed strong associations of the JCS level at the scene of injury with in-hospital mortality as well as the good discriminatory performance for this outcome.

Risk factors for fall occurrence in hospitalized adult patients: a case-control study

OBJECTIVE

to identify risk factors for falls in hospitalized adult patients.

METHODS

a matched case-control study (one control for each case). A quantitative study conducted in clinical and surgical units of a teaching hospital in Southern Brazil. The sample comprised 358 patients. Data were collected over 18 months between 2013-2014. Data analysis was performed with descriptive statistics and conditional logistic regression using Microsoft Excel and SPSS version 18.0.

RESULTS

risk factors identified were: disorientation/confusion [OR 4.25 (1.99 to 9.08), p<0.001]; frequent urination [OR 4.50 (1.86 to 10.87), p=0.001]; walking limitation [OR 4.34 (2.05 to 9.14), p<0.001]; absence of caregiver [OR 0.37 (0.22 to 0.63), p<0.001]; postoperative period [OR 0.50 (0.26 to 0.94), p=0.03]; and number of medications administered within 72 hours prior the fall [OR 1.20 (1.04 to 1.39) p=0.01].

CONCLUSION

risk for falls is multifactorial. However, understanding these factors provides support to clinical decision-making and positively influences patient safety.