Abstract:
Background: Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder in children and its onset occurs in
the infant period. The incidence of epilepsy in children ranges from 41 to -187/100,000 where
as its prevalence ranges from 3.6 to -44/1,000 in developing countries. In Rwanda, the
prevalence of epilepsy in 2008 was 0.7% in general population and the onset of seizures was
23% at birth, 32% between birth and age of 5; 23% between ages 5 and 16, and 21% above
the age of 16. Nurses have preventive, curative and rehabilitative roles to play in providing
care for children with neurological disorders and nurses‟ awareness and management of
epilepsy is essential in order to provide quality care for improve quality of life of children.
Purpose: The purpose of the study was to determine nurses‟ knowledge, attitude and
management of pediatric epilepsy at selected referral hospitals in Rwanda.
Methods: A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional design was used. A self-reported
questionnaire adapted from Goel‟s (2011) questionnaire, was used to assess nurses‟
knowledge, attitude and management of pediatric epilepsy. Convenience sampling method
was used to select 191 nurses who worked in pediatric, emergency, ICU, HDU and surgical
wards at the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali, Rwanda Military Hospital and King
Faysal hospital. Analysis was done using SPSS software package version 20 and Microsoft
Excel Spreadsheet. Frequency distribution tables and inferential statistics were also used to
summarize findings and examine relationships among variables under study.
Results: High percentage of nurses (95, 2%), had low level of knowledge about pediatric
epilepsy, 80, 63% had positive attitude regarding pediatric epilepsy and 91% had low
knowledge of nursing management strategies of pediatric epilepsy.There was no significant
association between nurses‟ knowledge and attitude (df =126, P value.008) and between
knowledge and management strategies of pediatric epilepsy (df=180, p value .209).
Conclusion: Knowledge and management of pediatric epilepsy is poor among nurses
working at referral hospitals in Rwanda. It is importantly to organize training programs in
order to increase nurses‟ level of knowledge improve patient outcomes and prevent
complications due to poor management of epilepsy.
