Nurses’ knowledge and practice on electrocardiogram lead placement and interpretation at three consultant hospitals in Dar es salaam, Tanzania

Abstract

Background: Electrocardiography is a commonly used, non-invasive procedure for recording electrical changes in the heart. ECG plays a crucial role in helping to diagnose, follow-up and detect any abnormalities in patients’ conditions. Nurses’ knowledge and practice of ECG might be useful in improving their knowledge level and enhancing initiation management to become more professional in ECG interpretation. More than 50% of nurses do not know the correct ECG lead placement or basic interpretation of ECG. Therefore, this paper present results of nurse’s knowledge and practice on ECG lead placement and interpretation at the JCKI, MOI, and MNH Aim: The aim of this study was to assess nurses’ knowledge and practice on electrocardiogram lead placement and interpretation at three Consultant hospitals in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Methodology: Analytical cross-sectional design was conducted at Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute, Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute, and Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam. A simple random sampling method was used to select 179 registered nurses working in critical care setting. Data was collected by using a self-administered questionnaire from the registered nurse after they met an inclusion criterion to participate in the study. Data was then analysed using descriptive statistics, and Pearson Chi-Square. P-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The findings of this study present a low level of ECG interpretation. At the same time, it was revealed that low practice of ECG among the nurses. From the data, nurses’ working experience present with significant association with the P value of 0.02. training had a significant association with the P value of 0.09. perceived competency with P value of 0.01, and level of education on ECG interpretation had a significant association with the P value of 0.00. respectively other variable studied didn’t had significant association with the target variable, nurse’s practice on ECG interpretation relay on working experience with significant of (P value of 0.01) which is 3.08 times higher odds. Conclusion: The results of this study showed a low level of ECG interpretation. At the same time, it was revealed that low practice of ECG among the nurses. nurse’s practice on ECG interpretation relay on working experience with significant.