NURSES’ PERCEPTION TOWARDS ANTIBIOTIC USE AND RESISTANCE: RESULTS FROM A KAP STUDY

Objective: The present study aims to evaluate knowledge attitude and practice (KAP) of nurses towards antibiotic use and resistance in tertiary care hospitals of Quetta city, Pakistan. Methods: The KAP study was designed as a cross-sectional descriptive survey. A total of 322 nurses practicing at seven different public tertiary care hospitals of Quetta city were targeted for the study. KAP towards antibiotic use and resistance was evaluated by using a pre validated questionnaire consisting 24 questions. Descriptive statistics were used for explaining demographic characteristics. All statistical calculation was completed by SPSS 20.0. Results: Out of 322 distributed questionnaires, 297 were completed and returned with a response rate of 92%. Two hundred and ninety three (98.7 %) were female and 150 (50.5%) had age range of 28-37 years. 275 (92.6%) were staff nurses and (73.7%) had diploma in nursing. Mean scores of knowledge, attitude and practice were 5.39 ± 1.43, 6.59 ± 1.56 and 4.89 ± 1.65 indicating good knowledge, positive attitude but poor practices towards antibiotic use and resistance respectively. Conclusion: The result of current study indicated adequate knowledge, positive attitude but poor practice of nurses towards antibiotic use and resistance. The poor practice of nurses may lead to negative outcome to the health of patients, hence clinical education should be provided to nurses to improve their practice towards the rising problem. Special courses should be incorporated in curriculum in nursing schools and colleges to improve nurses' practices towards antibiotic resistance. Keywords: Knowledge, attitude, practice, nurses, antibiotic use and resistance, Quetta city