Malaysian Nurses' Autonomy, Practice and Perception

Pressure ulcers are one of the common complications in hospital setting and this can affect patients' quality of life while increase the cost of patient care. Perception of pressure ulcer development is commonly associated with poor care due to autonomy, practice and perception by nursing staff. This cross- sectional descriptive study was conducted among surgical ward nurses (n=120) in a tertiary teaching hospital in Malaysia. There is no significant mean difference between nurses' level of education, years of working experience and training regarding prevention of pressure ulcer with the nurses' autonomy (p>0.05). However, there is significant mean difference between nurses' level of education, years of working experience and training regarding prevention of pressure ulcer with the nurses' practice (p<0.05). This study demonstrated that nurses do practices the prevention of pressure ulcer. However, the awareness of autonomy regarding the prevention of pressure ulcer still required improvement for better care and management of the patient.