Breastfeeding is considered as the most complete nutritional source for infants because breast milk contains the essential carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and immunological factors needed for infants to thrive and resist infection in the formative first year of life. Knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) among women is essential when promoting optimal breastfeeding practices. This cross-sectional descriptive survey assessed knowledge and intention to practice EBF and its associated factors during pregnancy among primiparous women in selected communities in Enugu State, Nigeria. A total population study that applied inclusion criteria was used to recruit 201 primiparous mothers attending their third trimester antenatal care from selected health facilities in rural and urban communities in Enugu State. A researcher-developed questionnaire was used to collect data on participants' knowledge and intention to practice EBF. Descriptive statistics of frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation were used to summarize categorical and continuous variables while Chi-square and Wald statistic tests predicted demographic data associated with knowledge status and intention to practice EBF of the participants. More than half (58.7%) of primiparous mothers had inadequate knowledge of EBF and only 62.7% had intention to exclusively breastfeed for 4–6 months. The Chi-square test result showed significant difference in the participants' place of residence (p = 0.024), EBF knowledge sources (p = 0.001), and EBF knowledge. The Wald statistic in Logistic regression model indicated the coefficient of age (p = 0.026), educational attainment (p = 0.046), EBF knowledge (p = 0.016), and sources of information about EBF (p = 0.027) to be significant predictors of good intention to practise EBF. Poor EBF knowledge and intention to practice in this population may be improved by combining facility-based and in-house methods of breastfeeding counseling, education, and support especially to intending and expectant mothers. Further studies are needed to be done using the multiparous women as well as assessing the effects of in-house EBF supportive-educative intervention to improve breastfeeding outcomes.

Financial barriers limit the ability of women, especially the poorest SES group, to utilize screening and treatment services for early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Interventions that will improve financial risk protection for women with breast cancer or at risk of breast cancer are needed to ensure equitable access to screening and treatment services.

Women with breast cancer in southeastern Nigeria desired but were inadequately prepared to cope with chemotherapy distress they experienced. Nurses could help patients to accept and navigate through chemotherapy by initiating and supporting effective and efficient self-care actions that are culturally congruent.Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Background: Workplace bullying among nurses has been identified as a major contributor to poor attitude towards duties, and reduction in overall productivity. This study examined the occurrence and effects of behaviors that constitute workplace bullying among nurses in tertiary hospitals in Enugu, Southeast Nigeria. Methods: Data were collected from 286 nurses working in 4 tertiary hospitals in Enugu State, Southeast, Nigeria, using a modified 22-item Negative Acts Questionnaire (NAQ) for measuring bullying behaviors in the workplace, and a 26-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) for measuring the impact of bullying. Results: The prevalence of workplace bullying among nurses working in tertiary hospitals in Enugu is reported to be high. Data provided by the respondents in relation to prevalence was greatly affected by poor knowledge of what constitutes workplace bullying among nurses. A total of 82.6% of the respondents reported that they have been victims of workplace bullying. Behaviors observed most (on daily basis) over the 6-month period preceding the study include gossiping (22.0%), backbiting (18.7%), excessive workload without supervision (17.3%), failure to respect privacy (13.1%), intimidation (12.6%), humiliating someone in front of others including patients (12.1%) and unfair allocation of job and postings (8.4%). The main perpetrators of workplace bullying were identified by 76% of the respondents as senior nurses overseeing hospital wards/units, 84.1% of the respondents also indicated that nurses in junior cadre were the main targets. Female nurses were identified as the main perpetrators and targets of workplace bullying among nurses by 93.9% and 92.1% of the respondents respectively. The reported impact of workplace bullying among nurses include anger (50.5%), an intention to travel abroad because of the feeling that the prevalence is less there (33.6%), anxiety (21.5%), frustration (16.8%) and strained social relationships amongst colleagues (11.2%). Conclusions: Workplace bullying (mainly from senior nurses to junior ones) is highly prevalent and has significant impact on the health, job performance and retention rate of nurses working in tertiary hospitals in Enugu. Poor knowledge of what constitutes workplace bullying among nurses, relational aggression and female oppression have great implication in the prevalence, nature of bullying behaviors exhibited, characteristics of the perpetrators and the outcome of workplace bullying among the nurses. In order to reduce the prevalence of workplace bullying among nurses working in tertiary hospitals in Enugu, the nurses do not only require education on what constitutes workplace bullying, they also need adequate information about how to communicate respectfully with each other in the workplace. Nurse leaders and hospital administrators should also constitute disciplinary committees, encourage nurses to report the incidence of workplace bullying, punish perpetrators as well as protect those who report the cases from further attacks of bullying thro...

Background Covid-19 infection is a serious threat to health care workers (HCW) because it is primarily spread between people during close contact, often via small droplets produced by coughing, sneezing, or talking. Therefore, how HCW exposure to COVID 19 virus translates into risk of infection is thus critical for informing infection prevention and control (IPC) recommendations. Aim This study assessed the risk perception, risk involvement/exposure and compliance to preventive measures to COVID-19 among nurses in a tertiary hospital in Asaba Nigeria. Methods A cross-sectional descriptive survey (Census method) was used to recruit to the study, the entire 378 nurses in a tertiary hospital in Asaba, who met the inclusion criteria. There was no sampling as the population was few. For the participatory observation of the respondents, each ward had research assistant who is a nurse selected from the unit and trained on data collection for the study. Results A subset of the nurses (9.3%) in the study centre strongly agree that Covid-19 is a mirage, and 2.6% also agree that the pandemic does not exist, while 37.8% agree that the pandemic is being politicized. Many of the nurses 141(37.3%) had contact with the environment where Covid-19 patients were cared for. For the participatory observation, decontamination of high touch surfaces was poor in most of the units. Personal protective equipment were lacking in some medical wards as only 2(50%) of the wards had all the PPE available at the time of the study. Conclusion Some of the infection preventive measures for Covid 19 were neglected by the nurses, and this calls for reminder in the form of posters at strategic spots in the hospital and further trainings on IPC.

Background: HIV/AIDS pandemic has brought huge demands on the healthcare workforce worldwide. Nurses play a critical role in caring for persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). Inadequate care and discrimination due to negative attitudes of nurses caring for persons living with HIV/AIDS will not only affect the patients, but will adversely affect the fight to halt the pandemic. The objective of this study was to determine nurses’ knowledge and attitude to the care of HIV/AIDS patients in South East, Nigeria.Methods:Descriptive survey design, with the aid of five-point Likert questionnaire administered on 240 nurses caring for PLWHA in University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Enugu, Nigeria was used.Results: Majority of the respondents had good knowledge of HIV/AIDS. There were significant relationships between the age (P<0.05), marital status (P<0.05), professional cadre of the respondents (P<0.05) and their level of knowledge. 227 (94.6%) of the respondents had positive attitude towards the care of PLWHA. Factors that negatively influenced nurses’ attitude in caring for PLWHA include fear of contagion 56 (82.4%), social stigma 10 (14.7%), culture/religion 6 (8.8%). There were significant relationships between the professional cadre of nurses (P<0.05), knowledge about HIV/AIDS (P<0.05) and their attitude towards the care of HIV/AIDS patients.However, there were no significant relationships between the nurses' marital status (P>0.05), religion, (P>0.05) and their attitude towards the care of HIV/AIDS patients.Conclusions:The study suggested the need for more in-service trainings on HIV/AIDS for nurses to improve nurses’ knowledge and positive attitude towards the              care of PLWHA.

BackgroundThe use of CAM by pregnant women is very popular in developed countries. The trend is increasing globally and lack of evidence of safety particularly when used during pregnancy may lead to complications. Pregnancy is a vulnerable period especially during the first trimester. There is scarcity of empirical evidence on CAM use particularly among women in Udi LGA of Enugu State and South East Nigeria. Moreover, studies carried out in Nigeria have been limited to herbal medicine use, which is one aspect of CAM. This study was designed to obtain information on the use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine among pregnant women.MethodsThe study was a cross sectional descriptive survey of 396 pregnant women systematically drawn from twenty political wards in Udi Local Government Area (LGA) of Enugu State. Interviewer administered questionnaire developed by the researchers was used for data collection. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.ResultsMajority (82.1%) of the pregnant women in Udi LGA used CAM during pregnancy out of which 53.8% had used CAM in previous pregnancies. CAM used ranges from one single type to sixteen different types with biological products eg, herbal tea, herbal mixture being the most commonly used CAM. Whereas most (89.5%) of the CAM used by pregnant women was consumed orally, approximately half of the pregnant women used CAM together with conventional medicine.ConclusionThe use of CAM by women during pregnancy was high in Udi LGA. Therefore, maternity care providers especially midwives need to elicit CAM commonly used by women during pregnancy and counsel them appropriately for best care and safety. Researchers should focus on establishing the efficacy of CAM products.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12906-017-1689-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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