Nurses' knowledge and use of the nursing process in two major hospitals in Fako, Cameroon

Although the nursing process can help ensure the quality of nursing care, some nurses do not implement it in patient care. This study assessed nurses' knowledge and use of the nursing process in two major hospitals in Fako.

A cross-sectional design with a purposive sample of 101 nurses was used. In addition, 310 randomly selected files of hospitalized patients were examined for the presence and effective use of a nursing care plan. A questionnaire was used to collect data on knowledge and use of the nursing process among nurses, while a checklist was used to audit hospital files for adequate use of the nursing care plan. Data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics, with the aid of SPSS version 20, with all statistics at Alpha=0.05.

The majority (85.1%) of participants had a mean knowledge score of 8.5/10 (1.06). There was a statistically significant association between nurses' knowledge and gender (χ2=17.998, P=0.003), age group (χ2=49.809, P=0.000), qualification (χ2=65.989, P=0.003) and duration of work experience (χ2=28.158, P=0.021). Most nurses (62.6%) reported using the nursing process only sometimes during patient care. There was a statistically significant association between nurses' age (χ2=9.723, P=0.049), qualification (χ2=34.67, P=0.000), and use of the nursing process. Only 42 files had a complete nursing care plan. Increased workload and nursing shortages were found to hinder the use of the nursing process.

Nurses had good knowledge of the nursing process but did not effectively use it. Thus, the quality of care received by patients in these hospitals is questionable. Strategies to improve the use of the nursing process are needed for effective nursing care.