INVESTIGATING NURSING STUDENTS' LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE IN CARING FOR TRAUMA PATIENTS

Purpose and background: Trauma is one of the most important leading causes of death. According to the estimation of world health organization, accidents and traumatic patients are among the main causes of mortality. As rate of medical errors are high in evaluation of traumatic patients in stressful situations, ability to cope with the condition, high level of knowledge and accurate medical diagnosis are essential. Nurses, as big professional groups in health care systems, play a key role taking care of traumatic patients. In this study, we aimed to assess nursing students' level of background knowledge in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences (TUOMS) and Tabriz Azad Medical University (TAMU) in regard to trauma care. Materials and methods: After obtaining informed consent, 180 nursing students of TUOMS and TAMU were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. A questionnaire was completed for further evaluation of basic information about traumatic patients by each student. Findings: the results showed that there was no significant difference between two groups of students of National and Azad universities. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that the nursing student's level of knowledge in both universities of Tabriz is very low. These results highlight the necessity of appropriate training in this field for students.