Aplication of nursing process and its Affecting factors among nurses Working in mekelle zone hospitals, Northern ethiopia

Abstract

Background: - Nursing process is considered as appropriate method to explain the nursing essence, its scientific bases, technologies and humanist assumptions that encourage critical thinking and creativity, and permits solving problems in professional practice. Objective: - The general objective of this study is to assess the application of nursing process and it’s affecting factors in Mekelle Zone Hospitals. Methods: A cross sectional design employing quantitative and qualitative methods was conducted in Mekelle zone hospitals March 2011. Qualitative data was collected from14 head nurses of six hospitals and quantitative was collected from 200 nurses selected by simple random sampling technique from the six hospitals proportional to their size. Quantitative data were analyzed by computer using SPSS for windows 16.1 version and thematic analysis was used for qualitative data. The results of the study were presented in tables, graphs and in themes. Results: - Out of the 210 questionnaires distributed among the study populations 200 were filled completely and returned making the response rate 95.2%. Regarding the knowledge status of the respondents, majority 180 (90%) of the respondents have poor knowledge on the nursing process. Almost all 99.5% of the respondents have a positive attitude towards the nursing process. All of the respondents from the six hospitals said that they did not use the nursing process during provision of care to their patients at the time of the study. Out of the respondents, 25.5% of them reported that allocation of resources for application of nursing process was adequate. Majority (75%) of the respondent said that the nurse to patient ratio was not optimal to apply the nursing process. Conclusion and recommendation: - The nursing process is not yet applied in all of the six hospitals. The finding also revealed that the knowledge of nurses on the nursing process is not adequate to put it in to practice. Factors such as shortage of resources and high patient nurse ratio also affect application of nursing process. The study hospitals should consider the application of the nursing process seriously; motivate professional nurses to apply the nursing process; and monitor and evaluate its progress.