SIDS: what do nurses and midwives know about reducing the risk?

Queensland currently has one of the highest rates of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in Australia. This study used a pre-test/post-test intervention design to survey nursing knowledge relating to risk factors for SIDS and current Reduce the Risk of SIDS (RTR) messages and to determine the effectiveness of a specific educational intervention in increasing awareness of SIDS risk factors and RTR messages in a group of nurses employed in a metropolitan maternity unit. The pre-test survey was administered immediately prior to an inservice education session about SIDS (n=36). The post-test survey, identical in content to the pre-test, was distributed to the 36 participants 6 weeks after the education session and was completed by 29 (81%) nurses. Pre-test, most nurses were aware that babies should be placed on their backs to sleep (n=33, 92%), and kept smoke free (n=34, 94%), but only 25 (69%) nurses correctly identified all three RTR messages. While the education session did not improve nurses' ability to correctly identify the three RTR messages (p=0.41), knowledge of other risk factors associated with SIDS significantly increased for eight of the ten variables elicited (all p less than 0.05). Only one nurse (3 9,6) correctly identified all ten risk factors pre-test compared to eight (28%) post-test (p=0.03). Following education, significantly more nurses identified the recommended sleep position for a baby with mild gastro-oesophageal reflux (GOR) (p=0.02). This study revealed that many nurses appear to be aware of some, but not all, of the RTR messages, and that their knowledge of other known SIDS risk factors is limited and can be improved