Investigation of Nursing Students’ Knowledge Levels, Attitudes and Behaviors on Central Venous Catheter Care

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and behavior levels of nursing students about central venous catheter (CVC) care.

Materials and methods: This was a descriptive type of study. Study data were collected between 15-28 February 2022. The study was carried out with 281 volunteer participants out of 320 nursing students. “The Participant Information Form” and "The Central Venous Catheter Nursing Care Information Form’’ were used to collect the data.  SPSS 22 package program was used for the statistical evaluation of the data.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 20.69 ± 2.08 years. 69% of the participating students were female and 49.8% were 1st class students. The mean knowledge level of female students was 3.05 ± 2.66; that of male students was 3.08 ± 2.71. 50% of the participants stated that they heard the term CVC, 80% did not find the level of CVC knowledge sufficient, and 70% stated that CVC is used for long-term IV treatment.  One of the important findings of the study is that 46% of the participants answered the question of who should care for the CVC as a service nurse and 44% of the participants answered the question “Which of the CVC applications should be performed sterile” as the caring for the exit points of the catheter and changing the dressing.

Conclusion: According to the study results, it shows that the nursing students do not have sufficient knowledge about CVC and experience with CVC care.

Key words: Central venous catheter, nursing student, catheter care