ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE AMONG HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS REGARDING INTRAMUSCULAR INJECTION ADMINISTRATION.

 Objectives: The aim was to assess the existing knowledge of intramuscular (IM) injection administration technique among health care providers inteaching hospital.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among medical interns, final year nursing students, and MBBS Phase-II students (health careproviders) of Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences, Mandya. A total of 257 health care providers participated in this study and were asked to narratethe steps of IM injection technique. The correctness of technique was graded using a standard checklist of 10 steps. Knowledge was assessed bynumber of steps answered correctly by them.Results: Out of 257 participants, all the steps of IM injection technique were correctly answered by 18.8% of nursing students, and 17% of medicalinterns. Knowledge of site selection and sterilization of site for IM injection was good among all the groups (97.7%). Steps involving angle of insertionof needle into the muscle, checking whether needle is correctly inserted into muscle, proper disposal of syringe and sanitization of hand after theprocedure was answered correctly by 89.1%, 72.3%, 42.8% and 45.5% of participants respectively.Conclusion: Nursing students and medical interns had better knowledge regarding technique of IM injection when compared to MBBS Phase-IIstudents. However, the knowledge concerning the disposal of syringe and sanitization in the hand was better among nursing students than the othertwo groups. Even though, medical interns and nursing students have responded well, still there is a scope for further improvement in the procedure.Keywords: Health care providers, Intramuscular injection, Knowledge