Tobiloba Oyejide Alex Omotosho
University of the Gambia, The Gambia
Biography:
Omotosho Tobiloba Oyejide Alex graduated from the Department of Nursing and Reproductive Health of the University of The Gambia in 2016 and is currently pursuing a masters degree in Community health nursing at the same institution. Presently working as a registered nurse at the only teaching hospital in The Gambia and as a graduate assistant with the University of the Gambia, he has developed interest in the areas of chronic disease management, health promotion and reproductive health.
Abstract:
Staterment of the Problem: Nurses are often the first point of contact for people seeking information on diabetes care and therefore have a major role in insulin administration. Inadequate knowledge of nurses on insulin treatment can cause errors and several adverse outcomes. It is therefore expected that nurses should have information about how insulin works, when and why insulin is needed. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of knowledge of insulin therapy among nurses in Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital, The Gambia. Methodology: A hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 127 randomly selected trained nurses using the EFSTH staff list as the sampling frame. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS version 20. Findings: A total of 127 nurses participated in this study but 118 completely filled and returned the questionnaires making a total response rate of 93%. The mean years of experience of nurses was 3.86±4.051 years with a minimum of 1year (20.3%) and maximum of 23years (0.8%). Most of the nurses were females (n=66, 55.6%), had a diploma in nursing (n=75, 63.6%) and working at the surgical department (n = 47, 39.8%) respectively. The majority (n = 93, 78.8%) of them had never attended an in-service training on diabetes management. The majority of nurses rated their knowledge of diabetes as good (n = 72, 61%). General level of knowledge score on insulin therapy was low (n=88, 74.6%). There was a significant mean difference of the nurses’ years of experience in relation to their knowledge of sign and symptoms of hypoglycaemia (p < 0.05). Eighty-six (72.9%) nurses reported administering insulin injection in the arm while 4.2% (n=5) of them reported checking for expiry date prior to giving insulin injection. Conclusion: The nurses with more than four years of practice were more knowledgeable on the requirements of effective insulin administration than those with two years or less practical experience. Recommendations are made for the urgent need for an educational intervention on diabetes and insulin therapy for the nurses in EFSTH.