Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Concerning Burn First Aid among Parents in Jordan: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: Burn is ranked as the fourth leading cause of trauma that causes an injury to the skin and other organic tissues, mainly brought on by heat, radiation, radioactivity, electricity, friction, or chemical contact. Purpose: This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of burn first aid among Jordanian parents. Methods: A crosssectional descriptive design was used by recruiting 217 parents. Results: The average age was (M=34.9, SD=10.9) years. Most participants were female (n=202, 93.1%) and housewives (n=142, 65.4%). Generally, about one half of the participants had adequate knowledge about first aid for burn injury (n=111, 51.2%). For attitude, parents show a positive attitude toward going to the doctor before doing anything in case of having a burnt child (94.0%). For practices, parents had adequate safe practices toward burnt children (n=200, 92.1%). Significant mean differences were found between being a female [t (216) =-1.03, p=0.002] for knowledge and [t (216)=-1.45, p=0.003)] for practices, and between receiving an emergency course to treat burn (M=1.77±0.422) with those who did not receive the emergency course [t (216)=-1.36, p=0.004] for knowledge and [t (216)=-1.38, p=0.003)] for practices. Conclusion: Comprehensive educational and preventive efforts are needed to improve parents' understanding, attitudes, and practices surrounding the treatment of burns in children. Implications for Nursing: This study identifies a knowledge gap among parents that nurses can fill through advocacy, education, and practice enhancements, ultimately improving outcomes for children in Jordan who have suffered burn injuries.