The Accuracy of Glasgow Coma Scale Knowledge and Performance among Vietnamese Nurses

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the accuracy of Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) knowledge and performance among Vietnamese nurses. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted using a questionnaire pertaining to the nurses' knowledge of GCS and a structured evaluation tool to measure the accuracy of their GCS scores. A total of 94 Vietnamese nurses participated in this study, all from a general hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Data were analyzed by conducting a t-test, a $x^2$ test, and ANOVA. Results: This study found that the vast majority of the nurses (>90%) responded correctly to questions regarding their GCS basic knowledge; however, 52.1% of the nurses answered incorrectly questions related to clinical scenarios requiring the application of the basic knowledge. Regarding the GCS performance, the nurses demonstrated acceptable accuracy rates for each component of GCS, but those who scored well in all three components accounted for only 42.6% of the subject group. These findings indicate that the Vietnamese nurses are not able to integrate their GCS knowledge into actual practice as measured by the accuracy of GCS scoring. Conclusion: This study suggests that new educational strategies should be developed for the Vietnamese nurses to improve their performance on accurate GCS scoring based on theoretical knowledge.