A Survey of Tracheostomy Care in Kuwait: Are Nurses Adequately Informed?

Introduction: Tracheostomy is a common surgical procedure with specific indications. The complications patients with a tracheostomy suffer from depends greatly on the post-operative care they receive. In Kuwait, this is provided by the nursing staff. Therefore, we aim to evaluate their knowledge in providing care for patients with a tracheostomy. Methods : Following extensive literature review, a questionnaire consisting of six questions covering main aspects of tracheostomy care was constructed; this was distributed among three major hospitals targeting the nursing staff. The nurses were asked to answer with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ only. The participants were divided into staff nurses (who are responsible for patients in their respective allocated wards) and senior nurses (head nurse of the ward) and results from each group were quantified and processed. Graphical representation of the results was also created. Results: 239 (96%) out of 270 of the nursing staff responded to the questionnaire. There were 19 senior nurses and 239 staff nurses. The participant was asked six questions assessing their knowledge of main principles in the management of tracheostomy tube. Most of the staff nurses answered ‘no’ to the questions asked whereas the contrary was true for the senior nurses where most answered with ‘yes’. Conclusion : In view of this lack of knowledge amongst most nursing staff, evidence-based guidelines should be implemented accompanied by advanced training of the staff to improve the care provided to patients with tracheostomy tubes. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted to evaluate the current practice of tracheostomy care by nurses in hospital wards, intensive care, and coronary care units of various hospitals in Kuwait, along with the possibility of implementing current international standards of tracheostomy care as a means of improving overall care and reducing the rate of complications.