Knowledge Attitude And Practices Regarding Chlorhexidine Among Nurses In Postnatal Wards:

Abstract

Introduction : This chapter describes the background to the study, the statement of the problem, the objectives of the study, the research questions, the significance of the study and the conceptual framework.

General objective: To establish knowledge, attitude and practices regarding chlorhexidine use among nurses in Kawempe Hospital in order to form strategies for scaling up the use of the medication.

Results: most of the respondents had not heard of chlorhexidines and had not received any training on the use of chlorhexidines in care of the cord of the newborn. This shows low level of knowledge and probably because this is a new intervention in care of the cord. This is in consistence with a report by WHO (2012) which reported that knowledge among the recently delivered women (RDW) about Chlorhexidine use was low. This implies that without information caretakers might divert to traditional cord care practices and parent’s anxiety might increase simply because of delayed cord separation after Chlorhexidine application. In addition, Mullany et al, (2013) also said that the level of knowledge of the nurses and midwifes were very low on the number of the times chlorhexidine should be applied to the cord to topical antimicrobials and reduce bacterial colonization of the cord. Furthermore, Obimbo et al, (2009) concluded that nurses had good knowledge on the need for hygiene when cutting the cord, had poor knowledge and practice in other aspects of cord care. This implies that national emphasis is a major component to increase knowledge and improve practices that contribute to the reduction of morbidity and mortality by improving health, survival, growth and development of under five children.

Conclusion and recommendation: The level of knowledge of the respondents on chlorhexidine was very low as most of the respondents had never heard of it . The attitude of the respondents towards chlorhexidine use was negative since they were not sure of the importance of chlorhexidine as well as its effect on the cord, The practice of respondents of applying chlorhexidine in cord care was low at 27respondents only From the findings of the study, we therefore recommend the following; The study recommends that educational interventions such as training are very important and should be implemented to address the gaps regarding knowledge and practice and to ensure that nurses use evidence-based care of the cord interventions. There should be integration of Chlorhexidine program into government policies, programs, strategies, and protocol. There should be endorsement 0f the use of Chlorhexidine as a part of essential newborn care MOH endorsed the use of Chlorhexidine as a part of essential newborn care, integrating Chlorhexidine with other ongoing programs.