Knowledge of Major Electrolytes and Observed Practices of Prevention of Electrolyte Imbalance in Patients, among Nurses

Aim: A study to assess the knowledge of major electrolytes and observed practices of prevention of electrolyte imbalance in patients, among nurses of selected tertiary care hospital, Uttar Pradesh. Objectives: 1) To assess the knowledge of the nurses regarding major electrolytes.2) To assess the practices followed by Nurses in prevention of electrolyte imbalance.3) To find association between knowledge of nurses and select demographic variables. Methodology A cross sectional study approach was used. The study was conducted on 60 nurses working in various critical and acute care settings of a selected tertiary care hospital. Results: Out of 60 nurses, majority 51 (85 %) were less than 40 years of age. Most of the nurses were graduates, 35 (58.3 %). Approximately one third 21 (35 %) of them possessed more than 10 years of clinical experience. Two third 41 (68.3 %) of the nurses had also done additional update/ diploma courses, and among them majority 14 (23.3 %) had done ICU course. The study revealed that majority of the nurses 36 ( 60 %) had good knowledge regarding major electrolytes and prevention of their imbalances. Practices were lacking mainly in the areas of documentation and reporting of abnormalities, dietary modifications and health education. The study also revealed that significant statistical association exists between knowledge of nurses and clinical experience (at 95 % CI, p value =0.004673), knowledge of nurses and ICU update courses (at 95 % CI, p value =, 0.02804) and knowledge of nurses with other update courses (at 95 % CI, p value =0.03528) Conclusion: The knowledge of the nurses regarding electrolytes and prevention of its imbalance was not adequate and there is significant scope of improvement. It was also found that with increasing years of clinical experience, knowledge level also showed improvement. ICU and other update courses have significant impact on improving the knowledge and hence it is recommended to conduct periodic training prog