Availability of Neonatal Care Resources in Selected Tertiary Health Institutions in South Eastern Nigeria

Authors

  • Agu Earnest Emeka, Chiejina Edith Nkechi, Ndie Elkenah Chibuike

Keywords:

Availability, Neonatal Care, Resources, Quality of Care

Abstract

Availability and functionality of resources for care of the neonate are of paramount importance to ensure survival of delicate newborns during and following their transition from intra-uterine to extra-uterine environment. This study examined availability of neonatal care resources in tertiary health care institutions in South Eastern Nigeria. It was a descriptive cross-sectional research design. Multistage sampling technique was used to select 440 nurse respondents for the study. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The Instruments used for data collection were questionnaire on neonatal care services by nurses in tertiary health Institutions and checklist on assessment of available and functional equipment, drugs and nursing staff strength in tertiary health institutions. Standard descriptive statistics of frequency distribution, means and standard deviation (SD) were used to summarize the variables and answer the research questions. Kruskal Wallis test was adopted in testing the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The result showed availability and functionality of all the drugs essential for neonatal care with mean = 3.16; SD = 0.75 with respect to drugs for normal neonate, drugs for emergency for neonatal care mean = 2.87; SD = 0.82, while drugs for at risk neonates mean = 2.77, SD = 0.79. Professional qualifications of nurses did not significantly influence the quality of neonatal care given by nurses (x2=6.104, p-value = 0.107). Also, availability of equipment had no significant influence on the quality of neonatal care services given by the nurses (x2 = 2.953, p-value = 0.228).

Published

2020-07-04

Issue

Section

Articles