Worldwide, neonatal sepsis accounts for an estimated 26% of under-five deaths, with sub-Saharan Africa having the highest mortality rates. Though worldwide neonatal deaths have decreased by over 3.6 million per year since 2000, neonatal sepsis remains a notable hindrance to the progress in the decline of cause-specific mortality rates especially in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed at examining the risk factors of neonatal sepsis at the Trauma and Specialist Hospital, Winneba. The study was an unmatched case control retrospective study. Cases were neonates who had sepsis with their index mothers and controls were neonates who did not have sepsis with their index mothers. Neonatal and maternal medical records were retrieved from January to December 2017. Data abstraction lasted for one month and 2650 folders for the neonates and their index mothers were retrieved. Nine hundred (900) neonatal folders were considered valid for the study and likewise for the maternal folders. One hundred and three (103) folders were considered cases while 797 were considered as controls. Data were entered using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences Version 22. Logistic regression was used to determine the risk of neonatal sepsis. Maternal factors that predicted the occurrence of sepsis among neonates were parity (p<0.027), mode of delivery (p<0.001), bleeding disorder (p<0.001), and PROM (p<0.001). Neonatal risk factors which predicted the occurrence of sepsis were APGAR score in the first and fifth minute (p<0.001), resuscitation at birth (p<0.004), duration of stay in the facility (p<0.001), and neonatal age on admission (p<0.001). The study found both maternal and neonatal factors to have a strong association with the risk of developing neonatal sepsis. Encouraging maternal antenatal care utilization would help identify the risk factors during prenatal and postnatal care and appropriate interventions implemented to reduce the likelihood of the neonate developing sepsis.

Background Diabetes often coexists with other medical conditions and is a contributing cause of death in 88% of people who have it. The study aimed at evaluating medication adherence, self-care behaviours and diabetes knowledge among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Ghana.

Introduction Improving maternal health is a global public health challenge especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The optimum utilisation of antenatal care (ANC) by pregnant women is known to improve maternal health outcomes. Maternal morbidity and mortality rates in Ghana remain unacceptably high, particularly in rural settings where skilled delivery care often times is disproportionally low. This study assessed factors associated with optimum utilisation of antenatal care in rural Ghana. Methods A cross-sectional design was applied to collect data among eligible participants between October 2018 and January 2019. A total of 322 women who gave birth and attended the postnatal clinic were recruited for the study. Consecutive sampling was employed in recruiting participants. The associations between the dependent variables (ANC service utilisation and knowledge of ANC) and independent variables (socio-demographic characteristics) were examined using ordinary least squares logistic regression at 95% confidence interval in STATA version 14.0. Results Of the 322 participants, 69.0% reported utilising at least four or more times ANC services. Determinants of women attending ANC for four or more times was significantly associated with age [OR = 4.36 (95%CI: 2.16-8.80), p<0.

Introduction: Labor and delivery process is an exciting, anxiety-provoking, but rewarding time for a woman and her family after successful delivery of a newborn. The intrapartum period is the time where mothers expect more care. Taking care of a mother through delivery with no side effects is the task of a professional midwife who is trained with the skill to take the responsibility of caring for mothers and babies. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore mother’s experiences regarding quality of intrapartum nursing/midwifery care. Methods: Focused ethnographic study was employed. Data were collected from May to June 2016 TTH, Ghana using semi structured interview guide. Purposive sampling was employed to recruit 20 participants. Eight individual interviews were conducted in the post natal ward after 48 hours of delivery, followed by three focus group discussions two weeks after delivery when mothers visited post natal clinic. Interviews lasted for about 30-45 minutes during each session. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: The average age of women were 29 years with ranging from 19-43 years. Participants’ experiences of nursing/midwifery care during birth were influenced by reception and respect, provision of information, technical skill, providers’ behavior, pain management and availability of nurses/midwives. Conclusion: The study findings have revealed that women’s experience of care is affected by a wide range of determinants. Therefore, maternal health programs and policies in Ghana must take into account women’s perspective on the care they need and their feedback on services they receive. Nursing education should re-enforce communication/relational skills.

Introduction Diabetes mellitus is a complex disease that affects many organ systems, leading to concerns about deteriorating population health status and ever-increasing healthcare expenditure. Many people with diabetes do not achieve optimal glycaemic control and other metabolic indices, leading to a heightened risk of developing complications. Adequate knowledge of diabetes complications is a prerequisite for risk-factor reduction and prevention of the consequences of the disease. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the knowledge of chronic complications of diabetes among persons living with type 2 diabetes mellitus in northern Ghana. Method A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 320 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in northern Ghana. The consecutive sampling technique was employed to recruit participants from September to November 2018. Data analysis was performed using IBM statistical package for social science version 23. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages were used. Both bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were employed to determine associations between knowledge of diabetes complications and demographic/clinical characteristics of participants, at 95% confidence interval with statistical significance at P <0.05. Results The majority of participants (54.1%) had inadequate knowledge and 45.9% had adequate knowledge of diabetes complications. The factors associated with inadequate level of knowledge were female gender [AOR = 0.29 (95%CI: 0.14–0.56), p<0.001], older age [AOR = 0.45 (95%CI:0.20–0.99), p = 0.049], primary education [AOR = 0.13 (95%CI: 0.03–0.51), p = 0.004], no formal education [AOR = 0.16 (95%CI: 0.05–0.50), p = 0.002], rural dwellers [AOR = 0.50 (95%CI: 0.27–0.95), p = 0.033] and unknown family history diabetes [AOR = 0.38 (95%CI: 0.17–0.82), p = 0.014]. Conclusion More than half of the studied population had inadequate knowledge of diabetes complications. Female gender, rural dwellers, and low education level were factors positively associated with inadequate knowledge of diabetes complications. A multisectoral approach is needed, where the government of Ghana together with other sectors of the economy such as the health, education and local government sectors work collaboratively in the development of locally tailored diabetes education programmes to promote healthy self-care behaviours relevant for the prevention of diabetes and its complications.

The third Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for child health, which targets ending preventable deaths of neonates and children under five years of age by 2030, may not be met without substantial reduction of neonatal sepsis-specific mortality in developing countries. This study aimed at assessing the prevalence and risk factors for neonatal sepsis among neonates who were delivered via caesarean section. A retrospective case-control study was conducted among neonates who were delivered via caesarean section at the Trauma and Specialist Hospital, Winneba, Ghana. Data collection lasted for 4 weeks. The extracted data were double-entered using Epidata software version 3.1 to address discrepancies of data entry. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages of neonatal characteristics were generated from the data. Both univariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to determine associations between neonatal sepsis and neonatal characteristics with odds ratios, 95% confidence intervals, and p values calculated using variables that showed significant association (p<0.05) in the chi-square analysis for the multivariate logistic regression. A total of 383 neonates were recruited; 67 (17.5%) had sepsis (cases). The neonatal risk factors associated with sepsis were birth weight (χ2=6.64, p=0.036), neonatal age (χ2=38.31, p<0.001), meconium passed (χ2=12.95, p<0.001), reason for CS (χ2=24.27, p<0.001), and the duration of stay on admission (χ2=36.69, p<0.001). Neonatal sepsis poses a serious threat to the survival of the newborn as the current study uncovered 6.0% deaths among sepsis cases. The findings of this study highlight the need for routine assessment of neonates in order to identify risk factors for neonatal sepsis and to curb the disease burden on neonatal mortality.

Pain is one of the commonest reasons why children visit the hospital. Inadequately treated pain in children can negatively affect their physical, psychological, and social well-being; it also places financial burden on families of affected children and healthcare systems in general. Considering the eventual suffering of vulnerable children and their families if nursing students are insufficiently educated and ill-prepared, the current study aimed at assessing final year nursing student’s knowledge and attitudes pertaining to pediatric pain. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 100 final year undergraduate nursing students at a private university college in Ghana. In addition to their ages and gender, the students responded to the 42 individual items on the Pediatric Nurses’ Knowledge and Attitudes Survey regarding pain (PNKAS) instrument. Descriptive statistical analysis was aided by the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 25 software. The mean age of the final year nursing students was 29 years (range of 21 to 47 years); a majority of them were females (78%). Participants had an average (SD) correct answer score of 44.0% (10.6%). Good pediatric pain knowledge and attitudes were observed in items that were related to the individualized and multidimensional nature of the pain experience and its treatment, benefits of pre-emptive analgesia, pharmacodynamics, and pain assessment. Poor pediatric pain knowledge and attitudes occurred in items that focused on pain perceptions, opioid drug administration, useful pain medications, pain physiology, and nonpharmacological pain management interventions. Final year nursing students have insufficient knowledge and attitudes toward children’s pain management. Areas of good and poor pediatric pain knowledge and attitudes should be considered when designing and implementing educational interventions on this subject. Curricular revisions should be made on existing nursing curriculum to lay more emphasis on children’s pain management and use educational interventions that support knowledge translation for improved care.

Background: Despite the advancement in malaria treatments and management; malaria morbidity and mortality is still on the increase. This phenomenon has been mostly attributed to the emergence and transmission resistance of the plasmodium parasite to drugs; which is as a result of non-adherence to anti-malaria medication. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess patients’ adherence to anti-malarial medications and the factors influencing their adherence in the Volta regional hospital.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was employed. Convenience sampling technique was used in recruiting respondents. Data were collected within a period of 8 weeks from April to May 2017. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics in the form of frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviations which was generated by the use of IBM statistical package for social sciences version 23.Results: The average age of respondents surveyed for this study was 32.27±11.09 ranging from of 19 to 68 years. Majority (51.7%) of respondents were females and 76.7% of them being Christians. The study findings revealed that 36.6% of patient were completely adherent to anti-malarial medication. Over 90% of respondents agreed that the malarial medication had bad taste and it was an unpleasant feeling for them taking it.Conclusions: Poor adherence to antimalaria medications could play a role in the future development of drug resistance. As such, identifying ways to improve anti-malarial compliance will help mitigate drug resistance. Therefore, further studies should be carried out on ways to improve patients’ adherence to antimalarial medication.