Are nursing students in Hong Kong well-prepared for urinary incontinence care?
Author(s)
Date Issued
2019
Publisher
Global Science and Technology Forum
Journal
GSTF Journal of Nursing and Health Care
Volume
4
Issue
1
Abstract
Background
Urinary incontinence is a common disorder that affects men and women of all ages. An effective management of urinary incontinence requires adequate knowledge and positive attitudes from health care professionals. Nursing students who share similar care tasks with qualified nurses should have adequate knowledge to provide quality continence care. There is little evidence to inform the knowledge and attitudes toward urinary incontinence among nursing students in Hong Kong. The purpose of this study was to examine nursing students’ urinary incontinence knowledge and attitude.
Methods
A cross-sectional survey was conducted in February 2017. A sample of 392 nursing students from 5 different educational institutions in Hong Kong was recruited. Two validated questionnaires, the Urinary Incontinence Knowledge Scale (UIKS) and Urinary Incontinence Attitude Scale (UIAS) were used to measure knowledge and attitudes towards urinary incontinence respectively.
Results
Overall urinary incontinence knowledge was moderate (73.3%, mean 22.0/30, SD 4.4) and attitudes concerning urinary incontinence were generally positive (69.3%, mean 41.6/60, SD 4.5). There was a weak correlation between urinary incontinence knowledge and attitudes (r = 0.175, p = 0.001). A high level of interest in learning more about urinary incontinence was reported (71.2%).
Conclusions
Hong Kong nursing students had moderate level of knowledge and positive attitude towards urinary incontinence. This study suggests that nursing students in Hong Kong are not well prepared to provide urinary incontinence care. There is still a need to examine the urinary incontinence course content within the nursing programme in Hong Kong.
SFU Affiliated Publication
No
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