18th Annual Nursing and Midwifery Research Conference Docume

School of Nursing and Midwifery Scoil an Altranais agus an Chnáimhseachais

Nurses’ Knowledge and Practices Regarding the Prevention and Early Detection of Venous Thromboprophylaxis: An Integrative Review Author(s) Al-Enazi Athari, Lehane Elaine, Hegarty Josephine. Affiliation(s) School of Nursing and Midwifery, UCC Abstract Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) involves two serious and life- threatening conditions: deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. High rates of VTE are reported among hospitalised patients and those discharged from acute care settings. VTE prophylaxis is known to reduce mortality, which highlights the importance of educating healthcare professionals in general and nurses in particular about the prevention and early detection of this condition. Aim: To review the literature on nurses’ knowledge and practices regarding VTE prevention and early detection regarding VTE thrombrophylaxis Methods: An integrative review of the literature was conducted. Five electronic databases (CINAHL, ERIC, PsycINFO, PubMed and Web of science electronic) were searched in April 2017 to identify papers published in English or Arabic between the year 2007 and 2017. The quality of the reviewed studies was appraised using different tools. Results: A total of nine studies were included. Nurses’ knowledge and practices regarding VTE prevention and early detection were lacking. Factors affecting knowledge were nurses’ age, qualification, years of experience and type of the institution they graduated from. Examples of factors influencing practices included the language barrier, lack of knowledge and confidence, lack of time and lack of standardized tools and protocols for VTE prophylaxis. Two brief educational interventions helped improve nurses’ VTE preventive practices, VTE risk assessment and pharmacological thromboprophylaxis. Conclusion: Findings from this review highlight the need to educate nurses about the importance of VTE thromboprophylaxis in improving patient outcomes. This could be achieved by designing and implementing well-structured educational and training programmes targeted towards nurses working in acute care settings. This is the first review that gathered evidence from studies that addressed nurses’ knowledge and practices regarding VTE prevention and early detection. This review has a number of implications for nursing education and practice. An Exploration of Care-Burden Experienced by Older Caregivers of Adults with Intellectual Disabilities, in Ireland Author(s) Caroline Egan & Caroline Dalton-O’Connor Affiliation(s) School of Nursing and Midwifery, UCC Abstract Background: People with Intellectual disabilities are ageing and, in parallel their caregivers are also ageing. Over 69% of adults with an intellectual disability in Ireland continue to live at home with family caregivers NIDD (2017). The current policy prioritization of de-congregations and greater social inclusion has resulted in a reliance upon family caregivers. This continues against a background of limited resources which support caregivers including respite care, home help hours etc. (Inclusion Ireland 2013). Aim: The aim of this study is to measure the level of caregiver burden among older caregivers. To analyse the effect of socio-demographic factors upon experiences of caregiver burden. Methods: A purposive sample of 187 primary caregivers were identified. A

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