Research Information System
The 18th World Congress on Controversies in Obstetrics, Gynecology Infertility (COGİ), VİYANA, Austria, 24 - 27 September 2013
KNOWLEDGE LEVEL OF MIDWIVES AND NURSES ON EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION
Meltem Akbaş, Nazlı Dilay Şenocak, Nuray Akbaba, Kemaliye Demirkaya
Objective: This study has been conducted in order to determine the knowledge level of midwives and nurses on emergency contraception and use the results in the regulation of the formal and in-service training programs.
Method: Research has been conducted with 250 midwives and nurses who work at Adana Maternity and Child Care Hospital and participated on a voluntary basis. Data were collected by a questionnaire consisting of 18 questions of which 10 questions identify midwives and nurses, 7 questions determine their knowledge level and 1 question determines their views. Data were analyzed using SPSS for Windows 11.5.
Findings: The average age of participants is 36.30 and their average years of professional experience is 15.86. It is determined that of the participants 60.4% have associate degree, 84.4% received training in family planning and 34.0% followed a publication on family planning. When data related to knowledge level are examined, it is obtained that of the participants 40.0% know the definition of emergency contraception, 11.2% know the emergency contraception methods, 48.4% know the cases where the emergency contraception methods are used, 86.4% know that emergency contraception methods cannot be used continuously, 84.6% know that emergency contraception methods do not protect against sexually transmitted diseases and 52.0% know the degree of impact of emergency contraception methods. Only 1.2% of the participants assessed the use of emergency contraception as a sin. When the extent of the knowledge of the participants on emergency contraception and their status of receiving family planning education compared, it is observed that of the participants who received family planning education 46.0% know the definition of emergency contraception, 13.3% know the emergency contraception methods, 53.6% know the cases where the emergency contraception methods are used, 88.6% know that emergency contraception methods cannot be used continuously and of the participants who did not receive family planning education 7.7% know the definition of emergency contraception, 0.0% know the emergency contraception methods, 20.5% know the cases where the emergency contraception methods are used, 74.4% know that emergency contraception methods cannot be used continuously. Statistically significant difference is found between the extent of knowledge on emergency contraception and the status of receiving family planning education (p<0.05).
Conclusion: Although the majority of nurses and midwives have been trained on emergency contaception, it is observed that their knowledge level was low. Revising the place of family planning and emergency contraception issues in education and updating the information periodically are suggested.
Keywords: Emergency Contraception, Family Planning, Midwife, Nurse.