Nurses' Knowledge and Practice in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy: Developing Nursing Guidelines

Abstract

Since the first publication on nursing care in 1980, much has been written on nursing care during gastrointestinal endoscopy. However, professional guidelines are mainly focused on the physicians' practice and training, while little is standardized or written about nursing care in upper and lower GI endoscopy. In the Netherlands, there are no national professional guidelines for nurses offering basic nursing care and post-procedural care for patients undergoing basic GI endoscopy. Most articles in the literature focus on staff training to prevent by passable incidents, and little is said about training on the importance of the non-medical care provided by the endoscopy nurse.