The Incidence and Detectability of Phlebitis by Healthcare Professionals in a 1,200 Bed Teaching Hospital with No Vascular Access Team (Published)
Infusion phlebitis can be caused by a multitude of factors including the chemical nature of the infusion, the catheter type, insertion and care technique, and factors leading to catheter or site contamination. A cross-sectional study of 100 randomly selected charts of patients were reviewed for the occurrence of phlebitis and IV-related adverse event. In addition, an 8-item questionnaire that assessed 51 physicians’ and nurses’ knowledge of phlebitis and aspects of prevention and care was administered. 95 of the 100 patients were included in the study. Overall phlebitis incidence was 36.8%. Three cases of infiltration and one of extravasation were also documented. The median interquartile range (IQR) score was 62.5 (50-75). This study reports a moderately high incidence of phlebitis and other IV complications. It suggests the need for a better system of documenting phlebitis, and the need to be consistent in compliance with CDC guidelines for line longevity
Keywords: Incidence, Intravenous Access, Knowledge, Nursing, Phlebitis
Perception and Experiences of Infection Control Practices among Professional Nurses in Secondary Health Facilities in South-South Nigeria: A Qualitative Approach (Published)
Infection control practice is a fundamental operational guiding principle in the delivery of modern health care. However, there is minimal qualitative investigation into professional nurses’ perception of infection control practices and how the experiences affect compliance with recommended infection control procedures. The purpose of this study was to examine and describe professional nurses’ impressions and experiences about infection control practices. A descriptive qualitative research design was used as the research framework. In-depth Interviews (IDI) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were completed with a sample of 54 nurses. The findings highlight the importance of both individual and organisational factors in determining Nurses’ compliance with recommended workplace safety practices. Four major themes emerged from the data, namely knowledge, infection surveillance, safety practices, and workplace policy. The findings indicate individual and organisational factors associated with compliance which are useful in developing strategies to facilitate long-term compliance with infection control practices among nurses.
Keywords: Infection control, Knowledge, Policy, Safety Practices, qualitative
Knowledge and Practices of Trans-Cultural Client Care amongst Practicing Nurses of Buea, Cameroon (Published)
Trans-cultural client care nursing has been described as the art of providing care to individuals, families, groups and community with a consideration given to the cultural background of the client in order to ensure compliance and improve health. It is a recommended and patronized strategy, due to its insistence on culture competence in care giving, as well as its potential to instigate culture desire in health care personnel. The objective was to investigate professional qualification, academic level, longevity of service, type of in-service training and the way the influence trans-cultural care nursing. It was also aimed at investigating knowledge of the importance, chronological steps, orientation in trans-cultural care, most appropriate person to provide information- trans-cultural communication and culture care preservation. Stratified samples of nurses/midwives working in Health Care Institutions in Fako Division, were administered multiple choice questionnaires, for a period of three weeks. One hundred and sixty five (165) participants filled the questionnaires and SPSS 16.0 was used to analyze the data collected and simple percentages were used to present the results. The results have demonstrated that: Nursing education, qualification and training influence trans-cultural client care among nurses/midwives in Health Care Institutions in Fako Division. It is thus recommend that Health Care Institutions should regularly organize seminars and workshops on the effective use and application of clients’ culture during care.
Keywords: Importance, Influencing Factors, Knowledge, Trans-Cultural Care Nursing
Knowledge and Application of Reflective Practice: A Tool for Meaningful Nursing Practice among Nurses in University of Calabar Teaching Hospital Cross River State Nigeria (Published)
Background: Knowledge and professional competence depend on deeper understanding of issues to develop informed judgment and skill. Purpose This descriptive study was designed to evaluate the knowledge and application of reflective practice among nurses in University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar Nigeria. Methods: The theory of Human Caring, the Model of Structured Reflection, two research questions and one hypothesis guided the study. Two hundred and thirty eight (238) professional nurses were used as study sample. Data were obtained using self-administered questionnaires; collated data were analyzed using SPSS version 18.0 for inferential and non inferential statistics. Hypothesis was tested for significance at 0.05 level using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. Results: Findings revealed that majority of nurses have knowledge of reflective practice based on task (41.3%) and time (32.1%) awareness 64.2% engaged in reflective practice employed. use discussion approach only. The use of reflective journals was found to be very poor among the nurses. Conclusions: The study concludes that knowledge of reflective practice provides a basic strategy for meaningful practice that facilitates professional development and promotes quality patient care based on best practice guiding principle. It was recommended that nurses be encouraged to keep reflective dairy to provide insight into clinical issues for better understanding that results in meaningful practice.
Keywords: Application, Knowledge, Nurses, Reflective, meaningful practice
Demographic Differences in the Knowledge of Breast Cancer among Women in Ebonyi State, Nigeria (Published)
Breast cancer is the most common of all cancers and is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women worldwide, a condition that may be predicated upon by lack of knowledge about fundamental regimen necessary for cancer prevention. The study was therefore designed to determine demographic differences in the knowledge of breast cancer among women in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. The sample of the study comprised 1,845 women drawn through the multistage sampling procedure. A 40-item questionnaire was used to elicit information on knowledge symptoms, risk factors, prevention methods and treatment options of cancer. Descriptive statistic of percentage was used to answer the research question and inferential statistic of chi-square was used to test the entire hypotheses formulated for the study at an alpha level of 0.05. Knowledge of breast cancer was found to be on the average (48.72%); differed by age with younger women (35-44years 56.43%) reporting higher knowledge of breast cancer than the older ones (45-54 years 46.03%); women with post-secondary education (67.66%) had higher knowledge than those with secondary (60.16%), primary (49.03%) and non-formal education (39.01%); urban women (55.61%) were more knowledgeable than rural women (47.81%). Chi-square analysis indicated that significant association existed between level of education and knowledge of breast cancer. However, no significant association was found between age and location of residence. It was concluded that breast cancer knowledge of women in Ebonyi State is on the average and associated significantly with education, but not with age and location of residence of the women. Consequently, it is recommended that breast cancer education should be used to improve the women’s knowledge of the disease, especially for those with non-formal education, older women and those in the rural areas through interventions by government and non-governmental agencies and through curriculum revision for schools
Keywords: Age, Breast cancer, Education, Knowledge, Location, Risk Factors, Women