the gap between knowledge and practice in standard endo-tracheal suctioning of icu nurses, shahid beheshti hospital

aims: endotracheal suctioning is a vital process to keep the airways open. the method of performing endotracheal suctioning has a great effect on its complications and effectiveness. this study was carried out with the aim of assessing gap between the knowledge and performance of nurses' working in intensive care units (icu) in tracheal suctioning.   methods: in this cross sectional study, knowledge and performance of 44 nurses working in three icus in shahid beheshti hospital, kashan, iran, was analyzed in three areas of prior, during and post suctioning, using a 26 item questionnaire and check list in 2010. kruskalwallis test, spearman correlation coefficient and spss14 software were used for data analysis.   results: in the 8 items in question of prior suction the average score for knowledge and performance were 5.4 (±1.12) and 0.81 (±0.71) respectively and in the analysis of ten items during suction an average score of 7.7 (±1.09) and 4.6 (±0.75) were obtained for knowledge and performance respectively. in 8 items of post suction the average score of knowledge was 6.47 (±0.69) and that of performance was 3.86. in general, from 26 possible points, the average score of knowledge and performance were 19.59 and 8.75 respectively. the type of icu and nurses' working experience were not significantly related to their knowledge and performance.   conclusion: this study revealed that despite acceptable knowledge, nurses' performance in endotracheal suctioning is poor. this shows that education alone is not sufficient for observance of the standards.