A study of knowledge, attitude and practice towards contraception among nursing staff in district Kota Bharu

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Date
2002-05
Authors
Ab. Rahman, Rahiza
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Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
The aim of this study is to asses the knowledge, attitude and practice of contraception among nursing statTs in governntent health clinics in Kota Bharu District. Method ยท This study was a cross sectional study involving 186 nursing staffs employed in government health clinics in Kota Bharu that included staff nurses, cotrununity nurses, assistant nurses and midwives. These nursing staffs were given pretested and pre-structured sclf-adaninistercd questionnaire via the medical officer in charge of the health clinic. They had to complete the qucstiotmaire and returned it on the same day or the next day to the medical officer in charge of the clinic. Result : All of the respondents were Malays. Majority of thetn were married with total family income of more than RM1500.00. Community nurses were the conunonest nursing category involved in this study. More than half of the respondents worked for more than 10 years. Majority of the respondents had only moderate knowledge score and staff nurses had the highest mean knowledge score. About one third of the respondents were currently practicing any method of contraception, with majority of them preferred oral contraceptive pills. However, about 15% of them were practicing traditional methods of contraception. Staff nurses were the cornmonest nursing staff practicing contraception and there was significant association between level of knowledge and contraceptive practice. Majority of respondents had good attitude toward modem contraceptive tnethods. However, about 10% of the respondents felt that traditional methods were effective for preventing pregnwtcy and should be encouraged Only 20.0% of respondents were aware/ had heard of emergency contraception and majority of them were staff nurses. Atnong those who bad heard of etnergency contraception, majority of them had poor knowledge and only 17.1% of them had practiced it. The entire family planning progratnme actually hinges on these nursing staffs. Since their knowledge is still lacking but having positive attitude toward contraception, the first step towards achieving success in the family planning programme lies in imparting more infonnation to this target group of health care workers. They have to be educated and guided in the right direction if any measure of success is to be achieved. Inclusion of more lectures in the nursing syllabus, more frequent and thorough refresher courses for all these nursing staffs besides providing them with updated clinical guidelines are some of the ways in which the existing situation can be improved.
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Keywords
Pregnancy and childbirth
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