An Assessment of Nurses Knowledge Attitude and Practice (KAP) of Pharmacovigilance at a University Hospital

Abstract

Uchenna Obi, Jacqueline E Campbell and Maxine Gossell-Williams

Objective: To assess nurses’ knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of pharmacovigilance.

Design and Methods: A cross-sectional study that utilized questionnaires to evaluate nurses’ KAP of pharmacovigilance. A sample size of 234 nurses was selected using a 95% confidence level with the raosoft online sample size calculator. Stratified random sampling method was used to select nurses from different departments. Data were analysed with the SPSS 20 using descriptive and inferential measures. The chi-square test was used to test the association between two attributes at a P< 0.05 significance level.

Results: 209 responses were received from 260 distributed questionnaires, giving an 80% response rate. Results for knowledge showed that 13.5% of the nurses had heard of the term pharmacovigilance prior to the study, while 58.4% correctly stated the functions of pharmacovigilance. Attitude towards pharmacovigilance revealed that 93.7% of the nurses felt it was a professional obligation to report adverse drug reactions (ADR). 98.1% of nurses felt that ADR reporting was necessary. Pharmacovigilance practice revealed that 68.8% of nurses indicated that they had noted an ADR while in practice, while 55.3% had reported an ADR. There was a significant association between nurses who noted ADRs in clinical practice and nurses who reported ADRs, χ2 (1) = 86.642, p < 0.05.

Conclusion: Registered nurses at UHWI showed a good attitude towards pharmacovigilance, although their knowledge and practice was limited.

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