Knowledge and Implementation of Integrated Management of Childhood Illness By Nurses In University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Rivers State.

Abstract

This study was carried out to determine the knowledge and level of implementation of Integrated Management of Childhood Illness by nurses in University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Rivers State. Three (3) specific objectives and one (1) hypothesis were formulated to guide the study.   A self-structured questionnaire was used to carry out a non-experimental descriptive survey on 109 respondents using the convenience sampling technique. Reliability and the validity of the instrument were ascertained. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics of frequencies and percentages for the research questions and inferential statistics of chi-square test for hypothesis. The result of the study showed that 26 (23.85%) of the respondents had good knowledge of Integrated Management of Childhood Illness, 48 (44.04%) had fair knowledge while 35 (32.11%) had poor knowledge. It also showed that 35 (32.11%) of the respondents rated the level of implementation of Integrated Management of Childhood Illness as high, 51 (46.79%) rated it moderate while 23 (21.10%) rated it low. The result of the analysis showed that “there is no significant relationship between nurses’ knowledge and the level of implementation of Integrated Management of Childhood Illness†since the x² calculated equaling 1.0335 is less than the x² tabulated equaling 9.4880. It is therefore recommended that intensive training sessions be made available to nurses in order to adequately acquaint them with the core essence of Integrated Management of Childhood Illness.