Published date: Dec 31 2021

Journal Title: Sudan Journal of Medical Sciences

Issue title: Sudan JMS: Volume 16 (2021), Issue No. 4

Pages: 489–498

DOI: 10.18502/sjms.v16i4.9946

Ahmed Osmanahmedosman.90@hotmail.comDepartment of Medical Nursing, Faculty of Nursing Sciences, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan

Montaha MohammedDepartment of Medical Nursing, Faculty of Nursing Sciences, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan

Sahar AhmedDepartment of Medical Nursing, Faculty of Nursing Sciences, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan

Background: An ongoing nursing assessment is the most significant point in the nursing process to be executed in the beginning of every shift which can be accomplished by using different approaches. It needs to be conducted accurately to guide professional nurses’ decision-making ability to further provide holistic nursing care to patients in the intensive care units (ICUs). This study was aimed to assess the ICU nurses’ knowledge regarding ongoing nursing assessment of ICU patients.

Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional hospital-based study was conducted in Khartoum city, and included 86 out of the 135 participants working in the critical care units of the main governmental hospitals in Khartoum city. Data were collected using a structured self-administered questionnaire after being tested for validity and then analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and correlation. Data were then presented as frequencies and percentages.

Results: The study participants were aged between 20 and 40 years with a female to male ratio of 3:1, and varied levels of experience. Overall, 71.7% of the studied participants scored good on the standardized knowledge classification tool used, with few areas of knowledge gap, impacted by increased experience. Moreover, 36% of the participants used the ABCDE approach for ongoing nursing assessment, followed by the head-to-toe assessment approach (21%).

Conclusion: The nurses’ knowledge regarding ongoing nursing assessment was good with a few areas of weakness raising the need for continuous educational and training programs.

Keywords: ICU ongoing nursing assessment, critical care unit continuing nursing assessment, critical care room evolving nursing judgment

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