A Study on Nurses' Ability to Perform Endotracheal Suction

Park, Hyun Ju; Choi, Young A; Kim, Kyoung Mi

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to survey the ability of nurses to perform endotracheal suction to provide basic data on correct endotracheal suction. The participants in this study were 181 intensive care unit nurses in two university hospitals and one general hospital located in Daegu, one university hospital and two general hospitals located in Pohang, one university hospital located in Gyeongju. These data were collected from February 1, 2001 to March 10, 2001 using self reported questionnaires.The study instrument, which was developed by these investigators, included questions on general characteristics and performance of endotracheal suction. The results of this study are as follows : 1.Of the participants 71.3% recognized correct endotracheal suctioning and 23.2% did not. 2.The greatest number, 57.5%, acquired knowledge about endotracheal suctioning at conferences on practice or education for staff. 3.There were significant differences in scores on performance of endotracheal suction according to department (F=2.60, P=.05) and hospitals (F=3.24, P=.01) among the general characteristics. 4. Slightly less than half of the participants, 47.8%, averaged correct scores for endotracheal suctioning procedures. Ventilator O2 supply had the highest score (84.0%), normal saline exchange time, the lowest (14.4%). From the results, we suggest that education is needed to increase the knowledge and correct performance of endotracheal suction. Further study including direct observation of performance of endotracheal suction is also needed.