Attitude of Nursing Staff Towards Disbetes in a Secondary Health Facility

Abstract

This study was designed to determine the attitude of nurses in Central Hospital Benin towards diabetes mellitus. The third version of the diabetes attitude scale (DAS-3) which is a reliable and valid measure of attitudes towards diabetes was used. This instrument consists of a 33 item questionnaire addressing attitudes towards diabetes on 5 domains using a 5 point Likert response scale (1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree). The domains include; the seriousness of type 2 diabetes, the need for nurses to undergo training, the value of tight control, the psychosocial impact of diabetes and the need for patient autonomy. A total of 145 questionnaires were distributed to practicing nurses in Central hospital Benin City and 114 were retrieved giving a response rate of 78.62%. Most respondents were females 98(86%), and midwives 30(26.3%). The mean age of the nurses was 35.74 years and they cut across all cadres of nursing. Overall, the nurses showed a positive attitude to all the 5 domains of the study. Mean positive response was 3.37 ± 0.8846 with the highest score being in the subscale of the need for special training (4.18 ± 0.580). However, there was a much lower positive attitude on the psychosocial impact of diabetes on the patients. Nurses in the study showed a good attitude towards diabetes but expressed a strong desire for special training in diabetes.

Keywords: Attitude, diabetes, nursing care

Nigerian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, Vol. 8 No 1 pp. 129 - 137 (September 2010)