Knowledge, practice, and associated factors of nurses in pre-hospital emergency care at a tertiary care teaching hospital

Abstract

Background: Pre-hospital emergency care is a medical care given to patients before arrival in the hospital after activation of the emergency team. Poor knowledge and practice about pre-hospital emergency care hurt the health outcomes of the patients. Objective: This study aimed to assess knowledge and practice nurses at the University of Gondar Compressive Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March 20 to April 10, 2020. A stratified sampling technique was used to select the study participants. Data were collected using a pretested structured self-administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. To explain study variables, frequency tables and percen-tages were used. Logistic regression analysis was used to see the association between independent and dependent variables. Results: Out of the total 378 respondents, less than half (42.9%) had good knowledge; similarly, 49.5% of them had good practice about pre-hospital emergency care. Male sex and attend formal training were significant associations with both knowledge and practice of pre-hospital emergency nursing care. Male participants (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 6.57, 95% confidence interval (CI) (3.79–11.36)) and having training (AOR=1.74, 95% CI (1.83–3.66)) were significantly associated with knowledge of pre-hospital emergency care, whereas male sex (AOR=1.73, 95% CI (1.09–2.73)) and having training (AOR=6.16, 95% CI (2.69–-14.10)) were significantly associated with the practice of pre-hospital emergency care. Conclusion: Knowledge and practice of nurses regarding pre-hospital emergency care was found to be inadequate as compared to previous studies. Male sex and attend formal training showed a positive and significant association with both knowledge and practice of pre-hospital emergency nursing care. The responsible body ought to allow professional development and attending formal training for nurses.