Assessment of Nurses’ Performance Regarding Care of Infants Suffering from Hydrocephalus

Background: Hydrocephalus is a common neurological disorder; it is the symptomatic accumulation of Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) inside the cerebral ventricles, heterogeneous in nature and complex in pathogenesis seen among infants. Nursing care provided for infants with hydrocephalus and VP shunt was challenging for effective care, functioning and complication reduction. Aim: This study was aimed to assess nurses’ performance regarding care of infants suffering from hydrocephalus. Design: A descriptive design was used in this study. Setting: The study was conducted at Beni-Suif University hospital and pediatric hospital affiliated to Ain Shams University hospital. Sample: A convenient sample of 150 nurses participated from the above-mentioned settings. Data collection tools: Tools used for data collection were 1): pre-designed questionnaire sheet, 2): Observational checklists. Results: The present study showed that, the Mean± SD age of the studied nurses was (26.98±4.51 year) and less than half of the studied nurses had poor knowledge level, less than half of them had average knowledge level and minority of them had good knowledge level about infants suffering from hydrocephalus. Also, more than three quarters of the studied nurses had incompetent practice level. While, less than one quarter of them had competent total practice level regarding care of infants suffering from hydrocephalus. Additionally, there was a positive correlation between total knowledge and total practice level of the studied nurses. Conclusion: the overall knowledge and practice of the studied nurses were poor which reflect the need of the studied nurses to educational program to improve their knowledge and practice regarding caring of infants with hydrocephalus. Recommendations: Development of an educational guideline based on evidence-based nursing practices to promote excellence of nursing care and provides high-quality infants care regarding infants with hydrocephalus and VP shunt.