Knowledge and skills of neonatal resuscitation of health professionals at a university teaching hospital of Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract

BACKGROUND:Competency in neonatal resuscitation is critical in the delivery rooms, neonatology units and pediatrics intensive care units to ensure the safety and health of neonates. Each year, millions of babies do not breathe immediately at birth, and among them the majority require basic neonatal resuscitation. Perinatal asphyxia is a major contributor to neonatal deaths worldwide in resource-limited settings. Neonatal resuscitation is effective only when health professionals have sufficient knowledge and skills. But malpractices by health professionals are frequent in the resuscitation of neonates. The present study was to assess the knowledge and skills of health professionals about neonatal resuscitation. METHODS:An institution based cross-sectional study was conducted in our hospital from February15 to April 30, 2014. All nurses, midwives and residents from obstetrics-gynecology (obsgyn), midwifery and pediatric departments were included. The mean scores of knowledge and skills were compared for sex, age, type of profession, qualification, year of service and previous place of work of the participants by using Student's t test and ANOVA with Scheffe's test. A P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS:One hundred and thirty-five of 150 participants were included in this study with a response rate of 90.0%. The overall mean scores of knowledge and skills of midwives, nurses and residents were 19.9 (SD=3.1) and 6.8 (SD=3.9) respectively. The mean knowledge scores of midwives, nurses, pediatric residents and obs-gyn residents were 19.7 (SD=3.03), 20.2 (SD=2.94), 19.7 (SD=4.4) and 19.6 (SD=3.3) respectively. Whereas the mean scores of skills of midwives, nurses, pediatric residents and obs-gyn residents were 7.1 (SD=4.17), 6.7 (SD=3.75), 5.7 (SD=4.17) and 6.6 (SD=3.97) respectively. CONCLUSIONS:The knowledge and skills of midwives, nurses and residents about neonatal resuscitation were substandardized. Training of neonatal resuscitation for midwives, nurses and residents should be emphasized.

The extent of Knowledge and practice toward neonatal resuscitation among nurses and midwives in public hospitals of South Wollo, northeast Ethiopia: Cross-sectional study

“…The overall mean practice score of the nurses and midwives was 62.96%(SD = 15.89%). This finding was in sharp comparison with the study from Gondar teaching hospital 56.7% [19].…”

“…The mean knowledge score of midwives was 68.68% (SD = 16.72%)). This finding was higher than the study from Gondar teaching hospital (42.8%) [19]. The discrepancy could be due to the difference in the study period and the study setting.…”

“…From this study, it was found that the mean knowledge score of nurses was insufficient (64.69%). This finding was higher than the study from India (57%) and another study from Gondar teaching hospital (43.9%) [18,19]. The discrepancy could be due to the difference in the quality of training on neonatal resuscitation and the availability of resuscitation materials.…”

“…Many neonates in developing countries were died unnecessarily due to poor resuscitation techniques [18]. Studies conducted in Sub Saharan Countries had revealed that nurses and midwives had a considerable knowledge and skill gap in all areas of resuscitations [19][20][21][22]. However, studies conducted to date to identify barriers contributing to poor resuscitation had remained scarce in low resource countries including Ethiopia [24,25].…”

Knowledge of Health Professionals on Essential Newborn Care in Bamako, Mali

“…Most interviewees said that the Agpar score should serve as a benchmark for initiating resuscitation. In the basic health centers in Ethiopia, professionals relied on the baby crying and skin color of the newborn to decide on resuscitation [12].…”