Defense of a Master’s Thesis in the Adult Nursing Program by Murad Jaghlab

This study aims to evaluate the impact of an educational program on eye care on the awareness and practices of nurses working in intensive care regarding risk factors and prevention of keratopathy among ventilated and unconscious patients.

Visual complications in patients within the ICU may often go unreported, leading to potentially serious effects such as keratopathy resulting from exposure to the external environment. To reduce these risks, it is important to promptly recognize and prevent these problems and educate ICU nurses about them.

The researcher used a quasi-experimental methodology to conduct a pre- and post-evaluation to examine the level of awareness and practice among intensive care nurses. The study sample consisted of 109 male and female nurses working in the intensive care unit in private hospitals in northern Palestine.

The study resulted in a significant improvement in male and female nurses’ awareness after the intervention according to the Chi square test. However, there were no significant differences in values regarding improvement in their practices according to the years of experience or gender. There has also been a significant improvement in nurses' understanding and practice of keratopathy in terms of risk and prevention factors for patients in the intensive care unit.

The study focused on the effectiveness of the targeted interventions in improving awareness and practice of intensive care nursing, regardless of gender or level of experience. The results of these programs emphasized the need for continuing education to enhance patient care and ensure safety within the intensive care environment.

The thesis was supervised by Dr. Imad Fashafsheh. The committee of examiners included: Dr. Imad Thultheen and Dr. Faida Qtait.