Úlceras por pressão: o conhecimento dos graduandos de enfermagem de um centro universitário privado

Introduction : In the quest for quality care provided by health services to patients, the professionals’ scientific knowledge of pressure ulcers ( PU) is paramount . It is essential that during the academic phase, undergraduate Nursing students obtain enough knowledge to provide excellent care in their area of ​​expertise. Proposition: To analyze the knowledge of Nursing students from a private University Center on the stages, prevention, evaluation methods and the nurse’s role in the case of patients affected by PU. Materials and Methods: Field study with a descriptive and qualitative-quantitative approach, which included students enrolled in the 4th, 6 th , and 8th semesters of 2012. A semi-structured questionnaire was applied and validated to 82 students after their signing of a consent form. The questionnaire was applied in the classroom Results: 65 students (79.3 %) accepted to participate in the study. Twenty nine (44.6%) of them had prior technical training, which justifies the conflict on the roles inherent to each professional class. In the evaluation and classification of the PU , it was observed that undergraduates know how to classify the stages of the injury. There were 273 ( 60.0%) correct answers , 148 ( 32.5%) wrong answers, and 34 ( 7.5%) "I do not know" answers. Items concerning wound assessment and prevention had a significant result of correct answers, especially the protection of bony prominences and the use of pressure reducing mattress as the most cited responses. As to the error rates, it was found that the highest levels were related to the use of massage, water wheels, and patient positioning. In questions marked with "I do not know", those related to the Braden Scale predominate, showing that students are unaware of the importance of this tool in the care system. Conclusion: Students have knowledge deficits in some areas and need to improve their knowledge of scientific concepts to ensure their future assistance in the prevention of this illness and the use of actions focused on the patients’ well-being.