Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice on oxygen administration among nurses and midwives at one of district hospital, Kigali Rwanda

Abstract

Background: Oxygen administration simply means giving oxygen. This makes oxygen to be considered as a drug which is prescribed to prevent or treat hypoxemia. The purpose of oxygen to be given is to bring oxygen saturation (SpO2) to normal range or near normal range. The aim of the study: This study was to assess knowledge, attitude and practice on oxygen administration among nurses and midwives at Masaka District Hospital. Research methodology: The study was a quantitative, descriptive research using a crosssectional design. The study was conducted at Masaka District Hospital. The target population was all nurses and midwives working in that institution. A non-probability convenient sampling procedure was used. Structured questionnaire and check list for observation on practice session developed by the researcher and validated by supervisor was used in data collection. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in analysis and SPSS version 21. Results: Among 70 nurses and midwives included in the study, 29 from them were also observed for practice session. The majority of all respondents (56.8%) were female, 68.6% were married, 60.0% were aged 30-39 years, 68.6% were holding advanced diploma, 54.3% were having working experience of 5-10 years and 45.7% were had working experience in their current departments of 2-3 years. Poor knowledge of nurses and midwives was found at 37.643%, positive attitude of 85.6% and poor practice of 32.59%. The associated factors of demographic variables with knowledge, attitude and practice respectively with p-value of ≥ 0.005 were level of education and working experience, marital status and working experience and level of education on practice. Conclusion: This study showed that there is a clear knowledge and practice gaps among nurses and nurses who were working at Masaka District Hospital and positive attitude. The possible associated factors were also identified which includes; differences in working experience, level of education and marital status on attitude. It is recommended that nurses and midwives must be given training on oxygen administration, be updated and National oxygen administration guideline or Hospital protocol must be developed.