NURSE KNOWLEDGE REGARDING INTRAVENOUS THERAPY IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Context: In hospital settings, most of the time intravenous fluids and drugs administered to patients and nurses are responsible for administration and care of intravenous therapy. However, patients may develop complications related to intravenous therapy due to inadequate competency and knowledge of nurses regarding intravenous therapy. Aims: The present study was conducted to ascertain the knowledge regarding administration and care of intravenous therapy among the staff nurses working at tertiary care hospitals. Methods: A Cross-Sectional research design was adopted to ascertain the nurses knowledge of intravenous therapy. A total of 400 nurses were selected through simple random sampling technique from a tertiary care hospital. A self-structured questionnaire was used to assess the nurses knowledge of IV therapy. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistic. Result: The finding of the study indicated that the overall mean knowledge score of nurses was 15.71±4.18. The demographic variables which influenced the level of nurses knowledge significantly were their professional education (p=0.003) and attended refresher courses on IV therapy (p=0.000). Conclusion: Nurses had an inadequate level of knowledge on administration and care of IV therapy. The administration of IV therapy could be improved by the provision of the in-service education programme.