A study to assess the effectiveness of video assisted teaching on safety measures while handling chemotherapy drugs on knowledge, attitude and practice of nurses in selected hospital at Kanyakumari District

The purpose of the study to assess the effectiveness of video assisted teaching on safety measures while handling chemotherapy drugs on knowledge, attitude and practice of nurses in selected hospital at Kanyakumari District was conducted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science in Nursing during the year 2018 in Christian College of Nursing, Neyyoor, which is affiliated to the Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, Chennai. OBJECTIVES: 1. To assess the level of knowledge, attitude and practice of nurses on safety measures while handling chemotherapy drugs before and after video assisted teaching. 2. To compare the level of knowledge, attitude and practice of nurses on safety measures while handling chemotherapy drugs before and after video assisted teaching. 3. To associate the level of knowledge, attitude and practice of nurses on safety measures while handling chemotherapy drugs with selected demographic variables such as age, gender, marital status, professional qualification, duration of work with chemotherapy drugs. HYPOTHESES: H1: There will be a significant difference between level of knowledge, attitude and practice of nurses regarding safety measures while handling of chemotherapy drugs before and after video assisted teaching. H2: There will be a significant association between pre test level of knowledge, attitude and practice of nurses regarding safety measures while handling chemotherapy drugs with selected demographic variables. METHODS: The purpose of the study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of nurses on safety measures while handling chemotherapy drugs before and after video assisted teaching. The study was conducted in International Cancer Centre at Kanyakumari medical mission Hospital, Neyyoor. Purposive sampling technique was adopted. Samples were selected on the basis of inclusion criteria. Samples used were 30 staff nurses who were working in the international cancer centre. The data collection tools developed for generating the data, were a structured knowledge questionnaire to assess the knowledge of nurses regarding safety measures while handling chemotherapy drugs, four point likert attitude scale to assess the attitude of nurses about safety measures while handling chemotherapy drugs and observational checklist to assess the practice of nurses regarding safety measures while handling chemotherapy drugs. The study was based on the J.W Kenny’s open system model. The research design adapted for this study was one group pretest post test design. The feasibility of the study and the refinement of tools were assessed through pilot study. The data collection for the main study was done from 22/1/18 to 03/3/18 statistical analysis was done by using both descriptive and inferential statistics. MAJOR FINDINGS OF THE STUDY: 1. Regarding the knowledge score of staff nurses 56.7% had adequate knowledge regarding safety measures while handling of chemotherapy drugs. The mean knowledge score was 9.7±1.9. 2. Regarding the Attitude score of staff nurses 90.0% had favourable attitude regarding safety measures while handling of chemotherapy drugs. The mean attitude score was 27.1±2.5. 3. Regarding practice score of staff nurses 100% had poor practice regarding safety measures while handling of chemotherapy drugs. The mean practice score was 3.9±0.6. 4. There is no association between level of knowledge of nurses on safety measures while handling chemotherapy drugs and their selected demographic variables. 5. There is no association between level of attitude of nurses on safety measures while handling chemotherapy drugs and their selected demographic variables. 6. There is no association between level of practice of nurses on safety measures while handling chemotherapy drugs and their selected demographic variables. CONCLUSION: This study reveals that the video assisted teaching was effective in improving the knowledge, attitude and practice of nurses regarding safety measures while handling chemotherapy drugs. Though knowledge, attitude and practice of nurses were significantly improved with highest mean improvement, there was some lagging noted because of unavailability of adequate resources in the oncological unit. So we strongly recommend to upgrade the clinical area with adequate resources to maintain safe practices and to avoid harmful effects from chemotherapy drugs. RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. The study can be done with large number of samples for better generalization. 2. The same study can be conducted to find out the factors responsible for improper practice on safety measures while handling chemotherapy drugs. 3. The study can be conducted among the nursing students in the clinical field. 4. A similar study can be conducted in other hospital settings & ward settings