International Journal of Research Studies in Psychology
CollabWritive Special Issue
2024 Volume 10 Issue 1
Available Online: 15 July 2024
Author/s:
Villanueva, Jomar L.
Graduate School, Lyceum of the Philippines University – Batangas, Philippines (jomarlindawanvillanueva@yahoo.com.ph)
Abstract:
Toxicology cases are one of the most common reasons for emergency room consultations and hospitalization. It deals with exposure to poisons, chemicals or substances that could have harmful effects on the human body, environment, and even animals. The study aimed to assess the knowledge and practices of nurses in emergency care management of toxicology cases. Specifically, this study determined the demographic profile of the nurses in terms of age, sex, educational attainment, length of service and previous attendance of trainings or seminars regarding toxicology; assessed the knowledge and practices of nurses in emergency care management of toxicology cases; tested the significant relationship between the demographic profile of the nurses and their knowledge and practices in emergency care management of toxicology cases, and finally; based on the results of the study, drew implications for the development of emergency nursing care guidelines for toxicology cases. A descriptive design of methodology was used in this study to examine nurses’ knowledge and practices in the emergency care management of toxicology cases. The methods that were utilized to collect the data and determine nurses’ knowledge and practices for the emergency care management of toxicology cases were shown using an Input-Process-Output model. An adapted research questionnaire, approved by the original author, was administered through an online platform to obtain quantitative data. The three-part questionnaire included the demographic profile of the respondents, the knowledge of nurses in emergency care management of toxicology cases, and the practices of nurses in emergency care management of toxicology cases. This study involved 150 nurses who were recruited using the snowball sampling method. These nurses are currently employed in various government hospitals’ emergency room during the data collection phase. The statistical tool used to analyze the data were frequency and percentage distributions, weighted means, and ranking. Furthermore, all data were processed using Predictive Analytics Software version 26 statistical software to better understand the study’s findings and relationship using alpha levels of 0.05 and 0.01. Based on the results, out of 150 respondents, 86 (57.3 %) were females and 123 (82.0 %) were between the ages of 30 and 39. The majority (84.7%) of the nurses had bachelor’s degree, and 106 (70.7%) of them had worked for more than five years. In addition, majority (52.7%) of emergency room nurses attended toxicology-related trainings or seminars. The study revealed that nurses’ knowledge regarding emergency care management of toxicology cases was unsatisfactory, obtaining an average of less than 75% of the total scores. On the other hand, nurses’ level of practice in emergency care management of toxicology cases was satisfactory using the scoring system employed to analyze the collected data for this study. The study also revealed that previous participation in toxicology-related activities such as seminars, trainings or workshops has significant relationship to the knowledge and practices of emergency room nurses in the provision of emergency care management to different toxicology cases. However, it was identified that there is no significant relationship that can support the idea that higher or satisfactory levels of knowledge could lead to better or satisfactory practice.
Keywords: toxicology, poisoning, poison, knowledge, practice, emergency care management
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrsp.2024.005
Cite this article:
Villanueva, J. L. (2024). Knowledge and practices of nurses in emergency care management of toxicology cases. International Journal of Research Studies in Psychology, 10(1), 61-75. https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrsp.2024.005