Nurses’ Performance Regarding the Guidelines for Prevention of Postpartum Hemorrhage.

Abstract

Background: Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) remains the leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Nurses play a critical role in prevention, early recognition and adequate management of PPH in the early postpartum period. Aim: to assess nurses’ performance regarding the guidelines for prevention of postpartum hemorrhage. Design: A descriptive design was utilized to conduct the current study. Settings: labor and postpartum units at Suez Canal University Hospitals, Ismailia, Egypt. Sample: A convenient sample of 75 nurses who provide direct care for laboring and postpartum women. Tools: Three tools: 1) structured self-administered questionnaire about nurses' personal characteristics and knowledge, 2) Observational checklist and 3) Nurse’s attitude Likert Scale. Results: More than half of the studied nurses (54.7%) had an average level of total knowledge regarding PPH in which about half (50.7%) of them had correct knowledge regarding nurses’ role in third stage of lab. The majority of the studied nurses (86.7%) had a poor level of total practice regarding guidelines for prevention of postpartum hemorrhage. Most of the studied nurses (84%) showed a positive attitude. There was statistically significant positive correlation between nurses' practice, and their attitude (r=0.251; P= 0.03*). Conclusion: The studied nurses had an average level of knowledge and a poor level of practice regarding prevention of PPH, while the great majority of them had a positive attitude towards prevention of PPH. Recommendations: Providing periodic training programs and workshops about prevention of PPH to improve the performance of nurses along with periodic evaluation of nurses' knowledge, practice and attitude.