Assessment of Vital Signs During the Stages of Labour (Published)
Vital signs are an objective measurement for the essential physiological functions of a living organism. The first set of clinical examinations is an evaluation of the vital signs of the patient. The basis of patient triage in an urgent care /prompt care or an emergency room is on their vital signs as it tells the physician the degree of derangement that is happening from the baseline. The degree of vital sign abnormalities may also predict the long-term patient health outcomes, return emergency room visits, and frequency of readmission to hospitals, and utilization of healthcare resources.During the research 12 non pregnant women and 36 pregnant women were used. Questionnaire will be administered to the respondents and their responses formed the basic data for the study. The data will be analyzed using statistical package (SPSS version 25) and one way ANOVA, independent Sample t test and descriptive statisticsVital signs (blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, oxygen saturation and respiratory rate) are thought to undergo changes during and immediately after pregnancy. However, these physiological changes are not taken into account in the normal ranges, which themselves are not evidence-based, used in routine and acute care monitoring. During the first stage of labor we found an average heart rate of 88 (10) beats per minuteAt the beginning of labor, temperature was 37.1 oC, Temperature increased slowly during labor and was 37.4 oC after 22 hours. However, in the normal labor group, temperature remained stable, while the abnormal labor group demonstrated a slow increase of temperature. Likewise, respiratory rate, blood pressure and pulse rate were all found to be within accepted range at first but gradually increases with time due.
Keywords: Abnormalities, Care, Patient., emergency, pregnancy
Maternal Knowledge of Kangaroo Care: Level of Practice in Health Facilities in Calabar Metropolis (Published)
This study is aimed to assess the level of knowledge and identify the level of practice of Kangaroo care among mothers with preterm and low birth weight babies in health facilities in Calabar Metropolis. The study was a quantitative, descriptive survey design study. Four objectives and four corresponding research questions guided the study. A self-designed questionnaire was used to collect information and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), Version 24 was used to analyse the data. Demographic data revealed that 30.5% of the respondents were between 18 – 30years, 53.4% were between 31 – 40years, 10% were between 41 – 50years while 6.1% were between 50years and above, 16% had no formal education, 10.8% had primary school education, 20% had secondary school education while 53.2% had tertiary education. The result of the study revealed that 72.5% of the total respondents has little or no knowledge of Kangaroo mother care while only 27.5% has knowledge of Kangaroo mother care, 24.1% of the respondents had practiced Kangaroo mother care while 75.9% had not practiced Kangaroo mother care, lack of assistance from husband and family member in home chores is part of the factors that limited the practice of Kangaroo mother care among women with preterm and low birth weight babies in health facilities and that assistance from husband and family member in home chores enabled them practice Kangaroo mother care. The study concludes that the level of knowledge and practice is low among women in health facilities in Calabar Metropolis. Therefore, the study recommends that training and education about Kangaroo Mother Care practice should be carried out on a regular basis.