TSANZ Abstracts—Orals

Escalating demands on intensive care beds have led to highly dependent patients being cared for in general surgical ward areas. This change in patient demographics has meant that the knowledge and skills required of registered nurses in these areas has expanded to include competent respiratory assessment, as one of the central tenets of clinical nursing practice. The research evaluates the effectiveness of an education program to changing surgical nursing practice in this area. Methods A quasi experimental non–equivalent control group design and a pre test, post test survey will be used to evaluate the impact of an educational program focusing on respiratory assessment on the clinical practice of surgical nurses. The impact will be measured in terms of improvement in the nurses’ knowledge, attitudes and clinical skills relating to identification of respiratory abnormalities postoperatively.Groups will be compared using chi-square analysis where a difference between results is possible A paired two-tailed t-test will be done to establish whether there are any significant differences in pre and post test responses for Parts Two and Three of the survey instrument. Conclusions Considering that atelectasis, pneumonia, pulmonary emboli and pneumothoraces are established potential complications post–operatively, monitoring by surgical ward nurses should include this fundamental assessment. Few studies have examined these effects and barriers exist to respiratory assessment being incorporated into everyday nursing practice. Hence the requirements are twofold. Further research is needed to highlight to nurses and educators alike, the positive effects respiratory assessment can have on patient outcomes and therefore its importance. Secondly, more education is needed to increase nurse confidence relating to this skill and facilitate changes in nursing practice