Knowledge of triage and resuscitation among emergency nurses in Ghana’s Central Region: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Globally, road accidents claim the lives of approximately 1.19 million people annually; low- and middle-income countries account for 92% of these deaths. Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional study design was employed for this study. A census sampling technique was used to include all 65 nurses who worked in the emergency departments of three public health institutions in the Central Region that were carefully selected. Ethics council permission was obtained, although a census approach was intended, the final sample reflected those who consented to participate. Binary logistic regression and descriptive approaches were used to examine the data. Results: The results indicated that female nurses had significantly higher odds of adequate resuscitation knowledge compared to male nurses (AOR = 23.631, p < 0.05). However, this unusually high adjusted odds ratio should be interpreted with caution, as it may reflect underlying confounding factors. Nurses with more emergency department experience were significantly less likely to demonstrate sufficient assessment and resuscitation knowledge compared to those with less than one year of experience (2–3 years: AOR = 0.137; 4–5 years: AOR = 0.045; >5 years: AOR = 0.022; all p < 0.05). This counterintuitive finding may suggest that newer nurses, having recently completed formal training, are more familiar with current guidelines and protocols, whereas more experienced nurses may have had fewer opportunities for recent continuing education or may rely on established practices that have not been updated to reflect the latest evidence-based standards. Conclusion: The study therefore revealed a significant association between respondents’ sex (male or female) and their knowledge of resuscitation. There was a significantly higher probability of female healthcare staff possessing sufficient knowledge regarding resuscitation.