Assess level of knowledge Among Nurses, Caring for Neonatal Child On Mechanical Ventilator at Tertiary Care Hospitals Peshawar

Introduction: Neonatal care encompasses a wide range of medical attention and support provided to newborn infants, typically from birth to the first 28 days of life, although this period can extend depending on various factors. Neonatal care is crucial for ensuring the health and well-being of newborns, especially those who are premature, have medical complications, or are born with congenital abnormalities. Mechanical ventilation (MV) is an automatic device that provides all or part of the work of breathing for neonates who are impotent to breathe sufficiently on their own. The goal of mechanical ventilation is to maintain adequate pulmonary gas exchange, reduce the work of breathing and decrease exhaustion for neonate. Certainly, the level of knowledge among nurses caring for neonatal children on ventilators is critical for ensuring the safety and well-being of these fragile patients. Given the rapidly evolving nature of neonatal care and ventilation technology, nurses should be committed to ongoing learning and professional development to stay abreast of current best practices and advancements in the field. Methodology: The methodology used for the study was quantitative descriptive cross sectional approach, the target population was nurses working in the Neonatal ICUs (NICU), the sample size was drawn by using the open epi software and then the data was collected by an adopted structured questionnaire which contains the demographic data, the questions for assessing knowledge regarding mechanical ventilator, ETT insertion and extubation, and the respiratory syndrome. All the data was then analyzed by SPSS version 22.2 accordingly for the demographic and all the variables respectively. Interpretation of the data was made and the conclusion was drawn also given the possible suggestion and recommendation. Results: The socio-demographic profile of the 180 study participants reveals a diverse group in terms of age, gender, education, and work experience. The majority are aged 24 to 29 years (65.0%), with smaller groups aged 18 to 23 years (16.7%) and over 30 years (18.3%). Females make up 63.3% of the participants, with males at 36.7%. Educationally, most participants have a Post RN MSN (48.3%), followed by those with a BSN (27.8%) and a Diploma in Nursing (21.7%). The participants' working experience is primarily between 2-5 years (36.1%), with others having 5-7 years (33.3%) and 7-9 years (30.6%) of experience. The data is evenly distributed across six hospitals (PIC, KTH, LRH, HMC, NWGH, and RMI), each contributing 16.6% of the participants. Knowledge about intubation and extubation equipment also saw 81.1% (146 respondents) rating their knowledge as good and 18.3% (33 respondents) as average. The "Poor" category was not filled in this section. For past knowledge of intubated patients, 76.7% (138 respondents) rated it as good, 20.0% (36 respondents) as average, and 3.3% (6 respondents) as poor. The data reveals the participants' experience and knowledge related to ventilator use and mechanical ventilation. A majority of participants (78.3%, or 141 individuals) regularly attend to ventilator patients. Regarding knowledge about mechanical ventilators, 79.3% of participants rate their knowledge as good, 23.1% as average, and 2.2% as poor. Similarly, for the use of ventilator modes, 73.9% consider their knowledge good, 23.9% average, and 2.2% poor. Conclusion: The analysis of the socio-demographic data and knowledge levels of the 180 nurse participants regarding mechanical ventilation and respiratory syndrome reveals several key insights. The participants, predominantly aged between 24 to 29 years and mostly female, possess a diverse range of educational backgrounds and work experiences. There is a nearly even split between those with and without a specialty diploma in ICU, and a significant majority have attended ICU workshops, indicating a strong engagement in continuing professional development.