Impact of short-term Educational Interventions on Asthma Knowledge and metered-dose Inhaler Techniques among post basic nursing students in Ilorin, Nigeria- Result of a pilot study

Background: Nurses’ knowledge of asthma and inhaler device technique could positively or negatively affect the outcome of asthma treatment. There exists paucity of data on asthma knowledge and inhaler techniques in Nigeria.Objective: Our study aimed at evaluating the level of knowledge of asthma and inhaler techniques among post basic nursing students in Ilorin, Nigeria.Methods: This was a pre-post intervention design study carried out among 40 post basic nursing students from September to October 2011. A pretest was conducted which involved self- administration of asthma knowledge questionnaire and demonstration of inhaler device techniques using the pressurized metered dose inhaler (pMDI). The pre-test was followed immediately by educational interventions (lecture, physical and video demonstrations), and after one month by a post test.Results: Forty out of 44 nurses completed the study giving a response rate of 91%. The median years after basic nursing training was 4 (range 1-21 years). Majority (70.0%) have not had a recent training on how to use inhalers. The total mean percentage score of asthma knowledge increased significantly from 75.9 %( pre intervention) to 86.5% (post intervention). For the demonstration of pMDI, none (0%) of the respondents had percent demonstration score of 100% pre intervention and post intervention 25.0% had a demonstration score of 100%.Conclusion: The knowledge of asthma was satisfactory while the demonstration of inhaler techniques was very poor pre intervention, both of which significantly improved after educational intervention. Additional studies need to be performed in larger, mixed populations of healthcare professional to confirm these findings.Keywords: Asthma, inhaler techniques, nursing students, Nigeria