Knowledge of intramuscular injection among the nurses of a teaching hospital

Abstract

Background: Intramuscular injection (IM) is one of the most frequently use practices in nurs­ing. Lack of knowledge can make the procedure ineffective resulting in lot of complications. The objective of the study was to find out the knowledge of IM injection among the nurses of Chitwan Medical College Teaching Hospital (CMCTH), Bharatpur, Chitwan.

Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study design was used among 220 nurses of CMCTH who were selected by using non- probability purposive sampling technique. Self-adminis­tered questionnaires were used to collect the data. The data was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 20.0 and descriptive, inferential test was applied.

Results: The age study findings revealed that 60% of respondents belonged to group 21 to 25 years and the mean age was 22.20±2.57 years, 72.3% respondents had completed Proficiency Certificate Level (PCL) Nursing, 90% of respondents were working as staff nurse, 57.3% of respondents were working in general wards, 48.2% of the respondents had hos­pital experience less than 12 months. Majority of the respondents (71.8%) had inadequate knowledge regarding IM injection. There was statistical significant association between re­spondents’ knowledge regarding IM injection and their age (p <0.001), professional designa­tion (p <0.001), hospital experience (p=0.023), current ward experience (p= 0.026), positive reinforcement (p=0.031), standard protocol (p=0.045), and in-service education (p<0.001) .

Conclusions: It is concluded that standard protocol and frequent in-service education should be provided to increase the level of knowledge regarding IM injection among nurses which will result in better practice and hence better patient satisfaction with no complications.