Nurses' knowledge and practices towards children with glucose-6 phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency

Abstract

Background: glucose-6 phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency is widely recognized as the prevailing human genetic disorder on a global scale, affecting approximately less than 400 million individuals who possess a mutation leading to the deficiency of this enzyme. This condition is predominantly prevalent in tropical and subtropical regions. Aim: Assess Nurses' knowledge and practices towards children with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency. Study design: A descriptive research design was utilized in the present study. Setting: This study was conducted at the therapeutic unit of Minia Regional Blood Transfusion Center, Maser Elhora Hospital, Minia University Hospital for Obstetrics and Pediatrics. Subject: A convenient sample includes 65 nurses working at the selected sitting. Tools: Two tools were utilized in this study; the first was an interviewing structured questionnaire sheet containing two parts: Part 1: demographic characteristics of the studied nurses. Part II: Nurses' knowledge questionnaire and the second tool was the nurses' practice checklist regarding caring for children with G6PD. Results: Over one-third of the nurses had good knowledge, and more than half of nurses had satisfactory practice for caring for children with G6PD deficiency. Also, more than half of them had unsatisfactory practice related to health education and the majority of them didn't practice physical assessment on admission. There is no correlation between the total score of studied nurses' knowledge and practice. Conclusion: More than one-third of nurses had good knowledge about G6PD deficiency, and satisfactory practices. Recommendations: The role of the nurse regarding the care of children with G6PD deficiency is very important, so nursing education and in-service training programs regarding G6PD among children should be done and equipped with the necessary educational facilities and materials necessary to upgrade the knowledge and skills of the nurse regarding the care of children with G6PD.