Awareness and perceptions with regards to evidence based practice among nurses and midwives in Mulago and Kawempe National Referral Hospital- Uganda

Abstract

Introduction: Integration of evidence based practice in nursing and midwifery increases patient satisfaction, patient safety and reduced length of hospital stay, which all contribute to better patient outcomes and improved quality of care. Little is known about awareness and perception regarding evidence based practice among nurses and midwives in Uganda. Objective: To assess awareness and perceptions with regards to evidence based practice among nurses and midwives in Mulago and Kawempe National Referral Hospital. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect subjective data from 384 participants. Participants were recruited consecutively until when the desired sample size was obtained. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26 was used to analyze data. Chi-square test was performed to study the factors association with awareness and perception. The independent variables with p-value <0.05 were significant. Results: Less than a half 138 (46.15%) of participants were aware of Evidence Based Practice. Majority of the participants (96.3%- 97.7%) felt that Evidence Based Practice is highly important, necessary and obligation in nursing and midwifery practice but only 68.0% were routinely practicing it in their practice. Awareness and perception were associated with level of education attained, going back to school after first qualification, access to learning resources at work place and attendance of continuous medical education. Conclusion: The overall nurses and midwives awareness regarding evidence-based practice was low. The nurses and midwives possessed positive perceptions regarding evidence based practice, although all of them were not routinely practicing it in their practice