Staff Nurses Knowledge Regarding Human Milk Banking working in PK Das hospital, Vaniyamkulam, Palakkad, Kerala District

Abstract

Introduction: Breast milk provides the ideal nourishment for infants. It has nearly perfect assortment of vitamins, protein and fat, everything which a baby desires to nurture. Milk banks collect, screen, store, process, and distribute human milk. Breast feeding save 80% of infant mortality as mother’s milk is best source. Colostrum is the only source having all nutrients. Human milk protects premature infants from necrotizing enterocolitis and from sepsis, two devastating medical conditions. And in such a case, human milk banks act as a life savoir for such babies. Objectives: To assess the knowledge of staff nurses regarding human milk banking and to find out the association between the knowledge of staff nurses regarding human milk banking with their selected demographic variables. Methods research approach: The research approach chosen for this study was Non- Experimental Survey Approach. The sample composed of 30 staff nurses of PK DAS Hospital, Palakkad. The sampling technique used in this study was non probability convenience method of sampling. A self-structured knowledge questionnaire was used for data collection. Quantitative (descriptive) research design was used for this study. Results: This result indicates that the staff nurses are having moderately adequate knowledge. In order to achieve the objective analysis of overall comparison of knowledge describe the result that 76.66% of the samples had moderately adequate level of knowledge score, 6.66% adequate level of knowledge score and 16.66 had inadequate level of knowledge score. Study revealed that there is no significant association between knowledge on human milk banking and selected demographic variable such as age, education and areas of experience. Conclusion: Findings of the study show that staff nurses were having moderately adequate knowledge regarding human milk banking.