Research On Basic Knowledge And Training Demands In ICU Nurses In Shanghai

An intensive care unit (ICU) is a place where the critical patient can be rescued and treated. ICU nurse$have high responsibilities and therefore should be trained professionally and should have good ICU basic knowledge.[Objectives] The objectives of the research were to analyze the feasibility of using "Basic Knowledge Assessment Tool8(BKAT-8)" to assess the basic knowledge of ICU nurses in Shanghai hospitals, to understand the current level on basic knowledge of ICU nurses in Shanghai, and to analyze training demands of ICU nurses through self-evaluation and questionnaire survey among ICU nurses. In addition, the factors (such as hospital level, working years, educational background, personal learning status and on-job training) are analyzed to test their effects on the scores of basic knowledge in ICU nurses. The research was aimed to provide scientific references for nursing educators to determine the training contents for ICU nurses at different knowledge levels and to provide an experience in assessing the basic knowledge of ICU nurses.[Methods] In this research, the nurses with one-year working experience in adult ICUs in10hospitals of Shanghai were selected as research subjects. Questionnaire survey and the assessment of basic knowledge in ICU nurses were adopted. The contents of questionnaire survey included:general information, self-evaluation on ICU knowledge, training demands, and learning status. The scale for learning status had20entries, including three dimensions (depressed mood, improper behavior, low personal accomplishment). The basic knowledge of ICU nurses were assessed by using BKAT-8, which had8parts with90items, including cardiovascular, pulmonary, monitoring lines, neurology, endocrine, renal, gastrointestinal or parenteral and other related knowledge. In data analyses, chi-square test, t-test, and linear regression were applied by using SPSS software.[Results] The study showed that BKAT-8could effectively assess the basic knowledge of ICU nurses in Shanghai hospitals. But the average total score of the ICU nurses in10Shanghai hospitals was47.95, significantly lower than those (76-78) of the ICU nurses in USA. The research results showed that there was no significant difference between secondary and tertiary hospitals in theverage total score (P>0.05), but there were significant differences in the scores of respiratory and endocrine aspects. The study also showed that75.96%of the surveyed ICU nurses demands on-job training and56.53%the nurses who were charge for ICU nurse training had less than three-years of experience in on-job training. In addition, the research found that the ICU nurses with good learning status had higher scores in the basic knowledge assessment using BKAT-8.[Conclusion] The ICU nurses in Shanghai hospitals did not have sufficient basic knowledge. There were differences in learning status and basic knowledge between the ICU nurses in secondary hospitals and their colleagues in tertiary hospitals. The learning status of the ICU nurse had a greater impact on their scores of basic knowledge assessed by BKAT-8and the ICU nurses with better learning status had higher basic knowledge scores. BKAT-8is an effective tool to assess the basic knowledge in ICU nurses of Shanghai hospitals and should be used in nursing education and assessment.