Vol. 2, Issue 4, Part I (2016)

Abstract
Arterial blood gas analysis is a basic and useful laboratory test for the critical care of patients. Arterial blood gas analysis is an essential investigation for assessing clinical oxygenation and acid-base status in critically ill patients, providing information about ventilation, oxygenation, and acid-base status, the three closely and interrelated physiological parameters that maintain pH homeostasis. A pre experimental study, therefore, was undertaken to assess the effectiveness of structured teaching programme on knowledge regarding arterial blood gas analysis among the staff nurses at selected hospital, Chennai. 30 samples were selected using purposive sampling technique. In order to assess the level of knowledge regarding arterial blood gas analysis, a structured questionnaire was used. The study concluded that structured teaching programme improves the level of knowledge regarding arterial blood gas analysis among the staff nurses.The difference was found to be statistically significant at p<0.001 level which indicates the effectiveness of structured teaching programme in improving the level of knowledge.