The nursing team’s knowledge of care for patients suspected of having or diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis – an exploratory study.

Nursing professionals at health care institutions should be prepared to suspect and identify cases of pulmonary tuberculosis at the earliest possible stage, in view of the risk of their contagion and consequent sickness. The prevention aspects should be valued in the performance of their activities, to the effect of remaining continuously attentive, to adopt safety measures that prevent the intra-hospital transmission of the disease. This study was aimed at identifying the knowledge of nursing team members of protective measures to be deployed in caring for adult patients suspected of having or diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis, confined in clinical-surgical and emergency units of a university hospital. This exploratory, transversal onsite study included 280 nursing professionals, comprising nurses (31-11.43%) and nursing assistants (249-88.57%). The material was gathered by applying a questionnaire with closed and open-ended questions. The material gathered was organized and the content analysis was used for the handling of data. The nursing professionals expressed their understanding of the disease and their knowledge of protective measures in the care of patients suspected of having or diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis. The study provided means of identifying the needs of nursing professionals focused on biosafety aspects in relation to the performance of their practice, permitting the formulation of subsidies for the continued education service and Hospital Infection Control Service of the Institution (SCIH)