Safety Nursing Measures for Patients Undergoing Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

Abstract

Endoscopy services are the cornerstone of diagnosis and treatment in gastroenterology. Over the past 100 years, there has been a dramatic and explosive growth of information and technology related to the science and practice of gastroenterology. The endoscopy nurse is responsible for ensuring patient‘s physical safety and psychological well-being before, during and after endoscopy procedure to prevent any hazards or avoidable complications. Objective: To assess safety nursing measures applied for the patients undergoing upper Gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy. Settings: The study was carried out at all gastroenterology endoscopy units at Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Subjects: Subjects comprised all nurses working in the previously mentioned settings total of 50 nurses. Tools: Two tools were developed to collect the necessary data; Upper (GI) Endoscopy Unit Assessment Checklist and Upper (GI) Endoscopy Safety Nursing Measures Observational Checklist. Results: A statistically significant correlation between training and performance of safety nursing measures after endoscopy was revealed. Practice of nurses' with bachelor degree illustrated higher safety measures than those with technical and secondary schools diploma before and after the upper GI endoscopy procedure. Technical nurses' illustrated higher safety measures during the procedure than the other nurses. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the highest available and adequate upper gastrointestinal endoscopy unit's physical setup structure and facilities were found in the private hospitals and clinics followed by health insurance, university and governmental hospitals respectively. Moreover, the Practice of nurses' who received pre and in-service training related to GI endoscopy procedure, illustrated more safety measures than those who didn't receive such training programs. Recommendations: It was recommended to promote gastrointestinal endoscopy unit with the necessary units' physical structure design and facilities in order to reach the optimal standard. As well; the provision of pre-service and in-service training programs for nurses working in those Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy units is very important to maintain safety nursing measures for patients undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopy.