Simin Jahani1, Tayebeh Poursangbor2*

Abstract

Objective: Oral care is one of the basic aspects of nursing work, which is important in patient's comfort, his health and decreasing the risk of developing pneumonia. However this care is not standardized. Since the explanation of current situation is the first and most important step for standardizing this care, this study was conducted to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practice of intensive care unit nurses regarding oral care of mechanically ventilated patients in Ahvaz educational hospitals. Methods: A three-part questionnaire was designed by the researcher for this cross-sectional study including demographic information, knowledge and attitude, as well as a checklist for evaluating performance. The sampling method was census-based. From 130 nurses who had the inclusion criteria 100 ones completed questionnaires. Performance checklist was completed by researcher or head nurse for these 100 people by covert observation. Data was analyzed using SPSS software version 20. Results: Findings showed that 29% of nurses had poor knowledge, 39% moderate and 32% good. There was a direct relation between knowledge and employment (P-value = 0.031, r = 0.264). The attitude of 55% of nurses was poor, 41% moderate and 4% good. Performance of all participants was evaluated poor (76%) and moderate (24%) by researcher and head nurse. There was a significant reverse relationship between performance and age (P-Value = 0.010, r = -0.257). Conclusion: Inclusion of this procedure in nursing student's curriculum, holding classes for intensive unit nurses and preparing a clinical evidence-based protocol are the suggestions of this study