Neonatal meningitis is a serious medical condition which is more common in the neonatal period and is rapidly fatal if untreated. Bacterial meningitis is more common in the first month than at any other time of life. Despite advances in neonatal intensive care, neonatal meningitis remains a devastating disease. Aim: The current study aimed to evaluate the effect of an educational program on nurses’ performance towards neonates with meningitis at Neonatal Intensive Care Units. Sample: A comprehensive sample composed all available nurses (100 nurses). Design: One group pre/post-test, quasi- experimental design was utilized to fulfill the aim of this study. Settings: This study was conducted at Neonatal Intensive Care Units at Benha University, Benha Specialized Pediatric and Benha Teaching Hospitals. Tools: A structured interviewing questionnaire used to assess nurses' knowledge about neonatal meningitis and observational checklists to assess nurse's actual practice towards neonates with meningitis. Results: revealed that, the mean age of the studied nurses was 23.9±3.8 years and there was a statistically significant improvement of studied nurses' knowledge and actual practices scores post-program implementation compared with pre-program implementation. Conclusion: Nurses' performance towards care of neonatal meningitis was significantly improved post implementation of an educational program compared with pre implementation. Recommendations: Periodic educational programs for nurses are necessary to help them to improve their performance regarding care of neonates with meningitis at neonatal intensive care units to reduce its complications |
