Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Kangaroo Mother Care among Neonatal Nurses

Abstract

introduction: Kangaroo mother care has been established as having an important role in the care of infants, particularly in preterm and low birth weight infants. Kangaroo mother care implementation depends on knowledge, attitude, and practice by neonatal nurses. objectives: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of kangaroo mother care among the nurses of neonatology in a tertiary care hospital. Methods: This study was a descriptive cross sectional study in which data were collected from 38 nurses of neonatology departments. The study respondents were nurses and head nurses. They were assessed through a questionnaire in three domains, knowledge (10 items), attitude (8 items), and practice (4 items). results: In knowledge domain only 32% nurses knew that kangaroo mother care is a method of care in neonates; 12% nurses were sure about the components of kangaroo mother care and verbalized these components; 38% nurses answered that kangaroo mother care is beneficial for low birth weight infants; only 56% nurses knew about infant position in kangaroo mother care. In attitude domain: 82% nurses agreed that kangaroo mother care technique is beneficial for infants; 76% nurses agreed that mothers also were satisfied for adoption of this method. In practice it was observed that 12(32%) nurses guided and counseled mothers how to practice it. Conclusions: According to the above results, it is clear that knowledge, practice and attitude, among nurses about kangaroo mother care are at an optimum level after lecture and training intervention. However, there is scope for fulfilling the gaps to get better practices, and training workshops are necessary to bring in behavior change among nurses.