Nurses’ knowledge, attitude and management of pediatric epilepsy at selected referral hospitals in Rwanda.

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.