Summary
Background
Despite epidural analgesia increasingly being utilized in hospitals, very little research-based
evidence is available about registered nurses’ (RNs) and midwives’ knowledge of this
technique.
Objective
To describe the current epidural knowledge levels of RNs and midwives in a multi-site
setting.
Method
RNs and midwives at four, regional teaching facilities completed an epidural knowledge
test. The instrument included demographic items and five knowledge subscales relating
to epidural analgesia: spinal cord anatomy and physiology; epidural pharmacology;
complications of epidural analgesia; assessment of sensory and motor blockade and
the general management of patients with epidural analgesia.
Results
A total of 408 (99.7% response) RNs and midwives completed the test. Respondents demonstrated
good knowledge of sensory and motor blockade assessment and the general management
of epidural analgesia subscales with correct responses to 75 and 77% of the questions
in these subscales, respectively. Fair knowledge relating to the spinal cord anatomy
and physiology subscale was demonstrated with 69% of the questions answered correctly.
The knowledge subscales relating to epidural pharmacology (57% correct responses)
and the complications of epidural analgesia (56% correct responses) were problematic
for the sample.
Conclusion
The research results provide generalizable information about what RNs and midwives
know about epidural analgesia. These results are an important guide in the development
of new and existing dedicated epidural education programs. The results also provide
some direction for further research into this important topic.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 22, 2009
Accepted:
March 17,
2009
Received in revised form:
January 30,
2009
Received:
October 30,
2008
Identification
Copyright
© 2009 Royal College of Nursing, Australia. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
