Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practice of nursing management of birth asphyxia in federal medical centre Asaba, Delta State-Nigeria

Abstract

This study aimed at assessing the knowledge, attitude and practice of nursing management of birth asphyxia in Federal Medical Centre Asaba, Delta State, Nigeria. It was a descriptive survey study of 50 nurses selected by purposive sampling technique from the Maternity and Neonatal Units of the centre. Self-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the nurses on the key aspects of the management of birth asphyxia. The instrument was used in a pilot study in Female medical ward and test retest correlation coefficient was 0.76. Permission was obtained from the ethical committee of the centre, and unit Heads of Maternity and Neonatal wards. The result revealed that years of experience has no significant effect (p > .05) on the nurses level of knowledge of nursing management of birth asphyxia and that only 10% of nurses adopted appropriate practice level. The results also show that There is no significant difference (p > .05) in attitude of nurses to the practice of management of birth asphyxia. Refresher courses were recommended for nurses to improve the level of good practice in care of birth asphyxia.