Introduction. Central vascular catheters are an indispensable part of providing care for critically ill patients. However, the progress of medicine has made their use not exclusively reserved for intensive care units. Aim. The main objective of the study was to assess the knowledge of medical personnel, working outside the intensive care unit, regarding the care of patients with central vascular access. Material and methods. The study used a diagnostic opinion poll method, a survey technique. The research tools were a selfgenerated questionnaire and a test of knowledge. Results. 312 respondents from different hospital departments of the Podbeskidzie area health care took part in the research. The vast majority of the respondents were women. Almost 80% of the respondents were successful in the knowledge test, of who the vast majority (68.6%) had a ‘suffi cient’ level of knowledge. None of the respondents achieved a ‘very good’ level of knowledge. Conclusions. The knowledge of medical personnel in the area of providing care for a patient with central access is incomplete. The age of the respondents, their education, workplace, qualifi cation course of anesthesia and intensive care, participation in further training, contact with a patient with a central catheter and internal training had a signifi cant infl uence on the number of points obtained in the knowledge test. Training in providing care for a patient with central vascular access should be carried out cyclically.

Key words: central catheter, nursing care, knowledge.