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Author(s): Oji Aleruchi Lenchi, Dr. Okafor Ngozi.

Volume/Issue: Volume 3 , Issue 6 (2020)

Abstract:

Background: Diarrhoea causes morbidity and death in children under-five years of age. These deaths can be averted through proper home-based management administered by caregivers who are first responders in childhood diarrhoea episodes. Purpose: The effect of nurse-led educational intervention on childhood diarrhoea home management skills of caregivers in Emohua LGA, Rivers state was assessed in this study. Materials and Methods: A one group quasi-experimental study design was adopted and 304 consenting caregivers were recruited from Emohua LGA for this study. A structured questionnaire was administered to obtain sociodemographic characteristics and assess childhood diarrhoea management skill of the study participants at baseline. Questionnaire was pretested in Eneka village in Obio-Akpor LGA, Rivers state with Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient of 0.84. Childhood diarrhoea home management skill was assessed with a fourteen-item instrument on a 5-point Likert scale (1-5) generating an overall score range of 14-70. The WHO integrated management of childhood illness module was adopted for Nurse-led intervention, which was administered in English, Pidgin English and the local dialect. Follow-up assessment of caregivers’ childhood diarrhoea home management skill was carried out 4-weeks after nurse-led intervention. Data obtained was analysed using statistical package for social sciences version 20. Discontinuous data was summarised as frequency and percentage while continuous data was summarised as mean and standard deviation. Differences in pre- and post- intervention proportions and mean scores were analysed with Chi-square and Paired t-test respectively. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: Study participants comprised of 219 females (74%) and 77 males (26%), with majority of the study participants aged 25-34 years (68.9%). The highest level of education of most of the caregivers was Secondary education with Fishing (43.9%) being the most common occupation. There were significant increases in childhood diarrhoea home management skill of caregivers’ post intervention compared to pre-intervention in the areas of diarrhoea prevention measures, timing of ORS administration, ORS preparation, drug therapy and care seeking attitude. Mean home management score increased significantly from 43.24±7.30 pre-intervention to 56.38±4.03 post-intervention (t= 27.025, p=0.000). Conclusion/ Implications for Practice: Childhood diarrhoea home management skill of caregivers improved significantly 4-weeks after nurse-led educational intervention. Provision of continuous education on home management of childhood diarrhoea for caregivers by community health nurses should be encouraged due to its potential to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with diarrhoea diseases.

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