Özet:

Purpose: Continuous monitoring of oxygen saturation has a significant effect on patient assessment. Health care professionals' knowledge deficits on pulse oximetry can affect decisions involving patient care and may cause incorrect decisions. This study was conducted for the purpose of determining the knowledge level about pulse oximetry use of nurses and physicians who work in pediatric wards. Material and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on pediatric wards of Denizli State Hospital, Servergazi State Hospital and Pamukkale University Research and Training Hospital which use pulse oximetry. The research population consisted of 61 nurses and physicians who work on these wards. The study sample was 48 of these who agreed to participate.Aquestionnaire developed by the researchers was used for data collection. Number-percentage distribution and Chi square test were used in the data analysis with the SPSS 11.0 statistical program. Results: Of the participants 75% were physicians and 25% nurses; 29.2% of the participating nurses and physicians worked in newborn intensive care units. The majority (60.4%) of the participants had not received any formal education about the use of pulse oximetry but had been informally trained on its use during clinical practice.To the question about what pulse oximetry is measuring, 85.4% of the participants answered correctly. In the analysis of questions about some factors that can affect pulse oximetry values it was determined that 41.7% correctly answered nail polish, 18.8% anemia, and 22.9% bright light. For conditions which change pulse oximetry values 8.3% correctly answered carbon monoxide poisoning and 22.9% cardiac dysrhythmia. Conclusion: The knowledge level of nurses and physicians working on pediatric wards about the use and evaluation of pulse oximetry is inadequate.

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