Nurse attıtudes towards cleanıng blood pressure cuffs: profile in Turkey

Purpose: Presenting how blood pressure cuffs are cleaned by nurses and which disinfectant agents are used in cleaning the cuffs will allow conducting detailed studies that can establish a standard procedure for cuff cleaning. However, there is no study on the views of nurses and application procedures regarding the cleaning of blood pressure cuffs. Therefore, this study aimed to determine nurses' attitudes regarding cleaning the blood pressure cuffs in Turkey. Materials and methods: The study sample was composed of nurses working in Turkey who were invited and agreed to participate in the study from February to March 2021. This study was completed with 286 nurses with 90% power. Research data were collected online via Google Forms. Results: In the study, 64.3% of the nurses stated that the cleaning staff should be responsible for cleaning the cuffs. 29.4% reported that the cuffs were cleaned several times a month, and 20.3% stated that cuffs were cleaned only when they were infected. 52.1% reported that alcohol was used for cleaning the cuffs. Conclusions: Nurses agreed on the necessity of cuff cleaning and that the cuffs could be a source of infection when they were not cleaned. Since nurses have an important role in infection control, they should play an active role in cuff cleaning and receive training on this issue.