Effectiveness of the Nursing Process Training on its Knowledge Level among Nurses in Selected County Referral Hospitals in Kenya

Background: Nursing process (NP) is an approach of solving problems systematically that should be utilized by nurses in identification, prevention and treatment of health problems and in promotion of wellness. However, its knowledge among nurses has been reported to be inadequate. Objective: To evaluate effectiveness of a NP training intervention on its knowledge level among nurses. Methods: A randomized controlled trial conducted in three phases: pre-intervention, intervention and post-intervention. Multi-stage cluster sampling technique was employed to get a sample of 60 nurses. Two cohorts of nurses were randomly assigned into experimental (n=30) and control group (n=30) and data was collected using questionnaires. Only the nurses in experimental cohort received training on the NP. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize data and t-test used to compare mean differences of the two groups. Results: In both groups, the participants mean age was 37.2 (±9.3), majority were females (73.3%), married (73.3%), and had diploma qualification (55.0 %). Before the intervention, the mean NP knowledge of the control group (M=17.1, SD=6.1) was higher than that of the intervention group (M=16.4, SD=4.2), t (58) =-0.52, p=0.61. However, after the intervention there was a significant increase in the mean NP knowledge of the intervention group (M=69.9, SD=11.4) compared to the control group (M=51.7, SD=11.3), t (57) =6.2, p<0.001. Conclusion: The NP training intervention had a positive effect on its knowledge level among nurses. Frequent such trainings are recommended to address the existing NP knowledge gaps among nurses. Key words: Nurses, Nursing Process, Knowledge level, Training intervention