Assessment of Gap betweenKnowledge and Practice towardsContraceptive Methods amongNursing Personnel Serving in Underprivileged Region of Rural Haryana

Background and Introduction:Knowledge and perceptions of nursing personnel towards contraception can grossly influence the contraceptive practice of the community as they act as both health educator and service provider.Aims and Objectives: To assess the gap between knowledge and practice towards the use of contraceptive methods among nursing personnel. Materials and Methods:This cross-sectional study was conducted among 220 nursing personnel working in a tertiary care hospital of rural Haryana. A pre-designed and semi-structured questionnaire was used to capture details about knowledge and practice towards contraceptive methods& perceived constrains to contraceptives usage. Results:One hundred and ninety six (89.09%)subjects had the knowledge about temporary and permanent methods of contraception. Majority of study subjects used male condoms (n=68, 30.91%) followed bytubectomy (n=58, 26.36%). ‘Gap between knowledge and practice' was observed to be maximum towards Oral Contraceptives (91.82%), followed by Withdrawal & IUCD (89.56% &86.82%). Conclusion:There exists a huge ‘Gap between knowledge and practice' among nursing personnel. Study subjects had fair knowledge about various aspects of contraceptive methods but they failed to practice. They need to put into practice their knowledge about while providing services and/or persuading young girls and women of this underprivileged area in preventing unwanted pregnancy.