Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Emergency and ICU Nurses in Managing Traumatic Brain Injury in Governmental and Private Hospitals, Palestine رسالة ماجستير

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the result of external trauma causing alterations in brain function. The injury's degree, location, and features all affect how these alterations emerge. Based on variables like altered consciousness, duration of post-traumatic amnesia, and loss of consciousness, TBI is categorized as mild, moderate, or severe. Emergency and Intensive Care Unit nurses need evidence-based training in handling acute brain injuries to improve clinical care and lower sequelae from traumatic brain injury. To assess the level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices of ER and ICU nurses in managing traumatic brain injury in governmental and private hospitals in Palestine. A cross-sectional study was conducted in the ICU and ER Department at private and governmental Hospitals in Jenin and Nablus city in the West Bank. The target population was ICU and ER nurses in hospitals who met the inclusion criteria, where a total of participants in the study was 151 ICU and ER nurses. The survey was developed and implemented based on the literature review from different studies. There were four sections on the questionnaire. Less than one-third of emergency and intensive care unit nurses in Palestine correctly answered critical TBI questions. The majority had never attended a formal TBI course (57.8%). Nonetheless, over 75% of nurses thought that specialized training in TBI was beneficial. Statistically significant correlations between attitude and practice (r = 0.724, p < 0.01) demonstrate that positive attitudes have a significant impact on improved clinical practices. Furthermore, knowledge was moderately associated with attitude (r = 0.368, p < 0.01) and modestly associated with practice (r = 0.186, p < 0.05), highlighting the importance of both education and attitude in improving TBI care. The fact that more than half of the nurses lacked formal training suggests that targeted education is necessary to bridge the gaps in care theory and practice. Despite performing exceptionally well on clinical TBI markers.