TITLE:
Knowledge and Attitudes toward Pressure Injury Prevention among Nurses in King Salman Armed Forces Hospital, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
AUTHORS:
Ibtisam Oudah Al Atawi, Fatmah Salman Al Atawi, Hasan Mohammed Salem, Amer Nabil Abu Alrub, Mona Oudah Al Balwi, Fatimah Musallam Al Hawiti, Fatmah Ali Khubrani, Wejdan Maki Saleh, Marwan Abdulmajeed Manajreh
KEYWORDS:
PUKAT, Pressure Injury, Knowledge, Attitude, Nurses, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Nursing,
Vol.15 No.10,
October
27,
2025
ABSTRACT: Background: Pressure injuries continue to pose a significant challenge to the healthcare system and are considered one of the most common preventable complications of hospitalization, which can increase the risk of infection, lead to an extended hospital stay, and incur costs to both the organization and the patient. Understanding the Knowledge and attitudes of nurses towards pressure injury prevention is crucial for developing effective strategies to mitigate this issue. Objective: To assess the level of Knowledge and attitude of nurses towards Pressure injury prevention in King Salman Hospital, Saudi Arabia. We also evaluated the correlation between nurses’ Knowledge and attitude and identified the associations between personal characteristics of nurses and their knowledge and attitude. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at King Salman Hospital, Tabuk City, Saudi Arabia, over 9 months. The study population consists of Nurses working in King Salman Armed Forces Hospital, Tabuk. A total of 393 nurses were included in the study. An assessment of Knowledge and attitude was conducted using two validated questionnaires: the Pressure Injury Knowledge Assessment Tool and the Second Questionnaire, which measures nurses’ attitudes specifically through the APUP instrument. Both tools have their own standard scoring criteria for assessing Know-ledge and attitude. Data entry and analysis were performed using SPSS version 25. Results: The total score reflects an overall moderate knowledge level of 48.32%, indicating room for improvement across all domains, with an overall attitude score of 68.68%. The study revealed that a positive attitude (Attitude score >75%) was observed in only 49 (12.4%) of the nurses. Age, Gender, Educational status, and working experience showed no significant impact on the knowledge and attitude score. Knowledge and attitude score showed a p-value (0.141), indicating a very weak, non-significant positive relationship. The result implies that higher knowledge levels are correlated with more positive attitudes toward pressure injury prevention. Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrate that nurses with low knowledge and attitude scores were unsatisfactory regarding pressure injury prevention. There is a pressing need to enhance both Knowledge and attitudes among nurses regarding the prevention of pressure injuries. The development of education and training programs, including workshops, lectures, and presentations, is necessary to improve the Knowledge of nursing staff toward the prevention of pressure injuries.