Knowledge and Practice towards Initial Management of Acute Poisoning Among Nurses Working at Emergency Department of Sidama Region Hospitals

Abstract

Introduction: Acute poisoning remains a common medical emergency worldwide. It is an important health problem, which cause both morbidity and mortality globally.Even though acutely poisoned patients have been visited emergency department and got emergency care, so many people died from poisoning worldwide.Emergency department nurses’ knowledge and practice can affect the early management of poisoning. However, limited information is available regarding the level and factors associated with nurses’ knowledge and practice on initial management of acute poisoning. Objective: To assess knowledge, practice and its associated factors of initial management of acute poisoning among nurses at emergency department of hospitals in Sidama Region, Ethiopia. Methods and Materials:Institutional based cross sectional study was conducted at emergency departments at 10 selected Hospitals found in Sidama Region from April to May 2023 on 182 nurses. Structured and self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Collected data were entered in to Epi-data version 3.1 and transported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. Bi variate and multivariable logistic regression were performed to identify factors. Statistical significances were set at p-value less than 0.25 and less than 0.05 during bi-variate and multivariable logistic regression respectively. Results:The study was conducted among 182 nurses, with a response rate of 98.4%. From total 99 (54.4%) (Mean =6.6, SD±2.5) and 69 (37.9%) (Mean =6.5, SD±2.3) of nurses had good knowledge and good practice on acute poisoning management respectively.Nurses; 30-39 and ≥40 years old were 93% (AOR=0.066, 95% CI (0.012-0.355)) and 98% (AOR=0.023, 95% CI (0.002-0.247)) less likely knowledgeable compared to nurses 20-29 years old respectively. Trained nurses on acute poisoning management were three times (AOR=3.186, 95% CI (1.553 6.538)to have good knowledgethan those they are not trained. Nurses trained on acute poison management were 5.4 times more likely to have good practice compared with not trained (AOR=5.377, 95% CI (2.595-11.143).