Knowledge and practice of diabetic foot care among nursing staff at Grande International Hospital.

Research Report.

ABSTRACT: Introduction: Diabetes melitus is an alarming public health issue world wise. It usually presents with a multitude of chronic complications often associated with hyperglycemia, which include, amongst others, neuropathy, coronary artery disease, cerebro-vascular disease and peripheral vascular disease. These diseases are risk factors for foot disease. Foot disease affects nearly 6% of people with diabetes mellitus and includes infection, ulceration of destruction of tissues of the foot. It can impair patient's quality of life and social participation and livelihood. Between 0.03% and 1.5% of patients with diabetic foot require and amputation. Nurses play an important role in recognizing the early signs of changes in the feet and to care and cure the diabetic foot, It is very essential for nurses to update themselves about diabetic foot care and to have the autonomy to practice excellent evidence based nursing care which in term contributes to decreased risk of diabetic foot and its complications as well as it improves quality patient care and quality patient outcomes. Objective: To assess the level of knowledge and practice regarding diabetic foot care among nurses in Grande International Hospital. Methods and Materials: A cross sectional, descriptive study was conducted to assess the knowledge and practice regarding diabetic foot care among nurses at Grande International Hospital, Dhapasi. Total sample was 140 nurses where probability purposive sampling technique was adopted to select the sample. The data was collected by self-administered questionnaire technique through structured questionnaire method. The collected data was entered into EPI-Data manager software and the analysis was done through SPSS version 23 software. The data was interpreted based on objectives by using simple descriptive statistics such as frequency, mean, percentage and inferential statistics such as chi-square test was used to find the association between variables. Results: Majority of respondents were below 30 years (83.6%). Majority of respondents had experience of more than 2 years (33.6%). More than half of respondents had education qualification of PCL nursing (52.9%). Majority of the respondents were not trained for diabetic foot care (93.6%). Majority of respondents had seen diabetic foot cases at the hospital (83.6%). The study revealed that more than half (60%) of respondents have inadequate knowledge about diabetic foot care whereas less than half (40%) of the respondents have adequate knowledge. Similarly, nearly half (53.6%) respondents have satisfactory practice whereas less than half (46.4%) had unsatisfactory practice. The study also showed that there was significant association between knowledge on diabetic foot and education qualification and work experience at p<0.05 level of significance while there is no significant association between practice with education qualification, work experience and training at p< 0.05 level of significance. Conclusion: This study reveals that more than half of the nurses had inadequate level of knowledge pertaining to diabetic foot care despite a positive practice of diabetic foot care at Grande International Hospital. Nurse's education qualification and work experience demonstrated a significant correlation with knowledge which can be influenced by their work experience. A comprehensive educational program focusing on evidence-based practice is necessary to ensure improved knowledge and better clinical practices. Keywords: Diabetic foot, diabetic foot care, Nurses, Knowledge, practice