A study of family planning practices among qualified nurses at the university teaching hospital.
Date
2013-09-25
Authors
Chirambo, Margaret.
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Abstract
The aim of the study was to determine family planning practices among qualified nurses.
Literature on family planning practices was obtained from literature presented in other countries especially developing countries. Problems of family planning practice are similar in most developing countries for example inadequate knowledge on the service, lack of personnel to teach the community about family planning, fear to use modern family planning methods because of the associated side effects and traditional and moral values attached to family planning practice.
The sample was randomly selected from Obstetrics, Medical and Surgical Departments. The sample consisted of fifty (50) registered and enrolled nurses. Data were collected with the use of a questionnaire. The findings of the study revealed that most nurses practice family planning and modern family planning methods were the most popular. Nurses' professional qualifications or their religious affiliations had minimal influence on the nurses' decisions to practice or not practice family planning. However side effects associated with methods of family planning did influence the nurses’ decisions to practice family planning.
Although most nurses in the sample practice family planning, the findings revealed that they do not appreciate the need for having a periodic family planning check-up which is necessary for assessing their health. Hence, these nurses may not teach their clients effectively on all aspects of family planning. It is therefore necessary for nurses to be re-educated on the importance of family planning so they can be affective teachers of family planning to the community they serve as they are expected to be role models.
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Birth control. , Birth control --nurses --attitudes --University teaching hospital --Zambia.