Suboptimal Knowledge and Care of Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome Among Nurses Working in Selected Hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 2021

Abstract

Background

Acute Coronary Syndrome is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in developing nations including Ethiopia. As frontline healthcare providers, nurses need to be prudent in handling cases of acute coronary syndrome. However, nurses’ knowledge and practice of acute coronary syndrome are not well-known across Ethiopia. Thus, this study aimed to assess knowledge, practice, and associated factors regarding the care of acute coronary syndrome among acute care nurses working at selected hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Methods

Institution-based descriptive cross-sectional study design was conducted from February to March among 252 purposively selected nurses working in tertiary hospitals of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A pretested and structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were entered into Epi-Data 4.6 and exported to SPSS version 25. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to describe and test the association between selected variables. P-values < 0.05 were declared as significant factors for the outcome variable.

Results

Out of 252 nurses, (52%) had good knowledge, and (44.4%) had good practice towards care of Acute Coronary Syndrome. Being a master’s degree [AOR=3.801, (95% CI:1.314–10.996), P =0.014] and having guidelines [AOR= 10.998, (95% CI:2.478–48.805), P =0.002] were significantly associated with nurse’s good knowledge of ACS. While having a master’s degree [AOR=4.258, (95% CI:1.676–10.820), P=0.002] and getting in-service training [AOR= 1.902, (95% CI:1.022–3.539), P = 0.042] were significantly associated with nurse’s good level of practice.

Conclusion

In this study, nurses had inadequate knowledge and practice regarding the care of Acute Coronary Syndrome. Nurses’ educational level, presence of clinical practice guidelines, and getting training were determinant factors associated with good knowledge and practice. Therefore, organizational and nursing educational support are needed to improve this gap by providing short- and long-term training, and updated evidence-based clinical practice guidelines should be available for all acute care nurses.

Keywords:

• knowledge
• care
• acute care nurses
• acute coronary syndrome

Abbreviations

ACS, Acute Coronary Syndrome; AOR, Adjusted Odds Ratio; CCU, Cardiac Care Unit; COR, Crude Odds Ratio; CVD, Cardiovascular Disease; ED, Emergency Department; ICU, Intensive Care Unit; MI, Myocardial Infarction; SPSS, Statistical Package for Social Science; UK, United Kingdom; USA, United State of America.

Data Sharing Statement

The data of this study can be available for reasonable request from the corresponding author.

Ethical Approval and Consent to Participate

Ethical clearance was obtained from the Institutional Research Ethical Review Board (IRERB), College of Health Science, Addis Ababa University, with meeting number: 01/2013 E.C and protocol number: 12/21/SNM. Before the commencement of the study, both written and verbal consent were obtained from each respondent based on their educational level. All data collection activities were carried out in accordance with the declaration of Helsinki. The study’s objectives and significance were explained to the participants. All study participants were informed that their participation in the study was voluntary and they had the right to withdraw from the study at any time they wanted. To ensure participants’ confidentiality and anonymity, codes, and identification numbers were used in survey questionnaires. The collected data were stored and kept on a password-protected computer. Only the principal investigator had access to the computerized data.

Acknowledgments

We would also like to express our gratitude to the medical directors and managers of each hospital for their unreserved support. We also thank the study participants for their valuable time. Last but not least we would like to express our gratitude to the reviewer of this manuscript for their valuable comment and suggestion that helped us improve the paper.

Author Contributions

All authors made a significant contribution to the work reported, whether that is in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis, and interpretation, or all these areas; took part in drafting, revising, or critically reviewing the article; gave final approval of the version to be published have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

This paper is based on the thesis of Bizuayehu Ashine Lakew. It has been recorded on the Addis Ababa University Institutional Repository (http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/28423). The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and publication of this article.