Selection of Site for Administration of Intramuscular Injection to Adult Patients by Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: This study was carried out to determine the sites which are selected by nurses to use in the intramuscular medicine applications and the factors affecting the selection of the injection sites.Methods: The population of this descriptive and cross-sectional type of study was composed of 250 nurses working in two hospitals in Istanbul, the sample was composed of 171 nurses selected by stratified random sampling method. Data were collected with ‘Structured Questionnaire Form’.Results: The average age of the nurses was found to be 26.27±7.46 years, it was determined that 40.4% of them applied injection very often and they preferred dorsogluteal site to apply injection with a ratio of 83.6%. When the knowledge level of nurses about the complications that may occur depending injection site, it was seen that some nurses did not consider complications such as pain, nerve, bone and vascular injury, infection, necrosis, tissue irritation, nodules or stiffness, abscess and hematoma in the deltoid site. On the other hand, it was learnt that they had a risk of developing sciatic nerve damage in the ventrogluteal site. The unit, which the nurses work and the experience period in that unit affects the site selection in injection application. As a result, nurses often prefer the dorsogluteal site in injection. Conclusion: The nurses’ knowledge about the complications that may ocur in the sites chosen for injection by them is insufficient and there are factors affecting the selection of the site. Amaç: Bu çalışma hemşirelerin intramusküler ilaç uygulamalarında seçtiği enjeksiyon bölgeleri ile bölge seçimini etkileyen faktörleri belirlemek amacıyla yapıldı. Yöntem: Tanımlayıcı ve kesitsel türdeki bu araştırmanın evreni İstanbul’daki iki hastanede çalışan 250 hemşire; örneklemini ise tabakalı rastgele örnekleme yöntemi ile seçilen 171 hemşire oluşturdu. Veriler, ‘Yapılandırılmış Soru Formu’ ile toplandı. Bulgular: Hemşirelerin yaş ortalamasının 26,27±7,46 yıl olduğu, %40,4’ünün çok sık intramusküler enjeksiyon uyguladıkları, intramusküler enjeksiyon için %83,6 oranla öncelikli olarak dorsogluteal bölgeyi tercih ettikleri belirlendi. Hemşirelerin intramusküler enjeksiyon bölgesine göre gelişebilecek komplikasyonlar hakkında bilgi düzeyleri incelendiğinde; bazı hemşirelerin ağrı, deltoid bölgede sinir, kemik ve damar yaralanması, enfeksiyon, nekroz, doku tahrişi, nodül veya sertlik, apse ve hematom gibi komplikasyonları bir risk olarak görmedikleri öte yandan vent