INTRODUCTION:

Health Nurses are key members of the healthcare system. Management of emergencies is an integral part of primary care. Being first contact care providers, general practitioners may encounter any type of emergency.

Acute attacks of asthma, myocardial infarction, anaphylactic shock, hypoglycaemics coma, convulsions, head injuries and trauma are some of the common emergencies. Updated knowledge, communication and procedural skills, trained paramedical staff, necessary equipment and medications and appropriate practice organization are vital to provide optimum care which may even save lives of patients. The wide range of problems and the rarity of the problems make it difficult for primary care doctors to be updated and competent in providing emergency care.²

Often the first action taken for management of an emergency decides the survival of the patient. Several factors are involved in the lack of using nursing knowledge and skills in practice. The barriers that prevent nurses from implementing knowledge and expertise in the area of acute care and emergency nursing include lack of recognizing emergency nursing as a specialized care, lack of standards of clinical competency, and lack of specific instruments and indicators for assessing nurses' competency in emergency departments. Thus, it is necessary to develop not only standards of nursing competence in special areas, such as emergency nursing, but also appropriate instruments to assess these competencies.³

First hand emergency is a situation which demands quick thinking, adequate knowledge with clinical skills. Common emergencies are emergencies any human caused or natural incidents that require urgent attention and action to protect life or property.⁵

According to WHO common emergencies are included as: -Burns, Poisoning, Myocardial infarction, Stroke, Road traffic accidents, Respiratory distress, Severe pain, Epileptic Seizure.

The nurses should have additional education in health assessment, diagnosis, management of illness and injuries including ordering and integrating the results of the test and prescribing medication. Their practices emphasize health promotion and illness prevention. During the past ten years the demands on emergency nursing have been increasing because of the changing health care needs of the society. Because of the current healthcare crisis one of every three persons are seeking care in the emergency department⁶.

First aid is the initial treatment given to the casualty of suddenly sick or injured. Knowledge on first aid is used to manage minor injuries at home, school and work place⁷.nurses that work in emergency unit have inadequate knowledge about chest pain management in emergency unit⁸. Throughout life a human being is faced with all kinds of the accidents/injuries internally and externally, which may endanger the life of the individual. If these injuries/accidents are attended by a first aider immediately, then residual effects fatality can be prevented⁹.There was a significant improvement in knowledge and knowledge on practices related to prevention of minor abrasions at 0.01 levels. There is no significant difference between demographic variables of pre test and post test scores of knowledge and knowledge on practice¹⁰. First aid is an essential measure to manage minor ailments in the home setting. First aid box is collection of articles which is readily available and one can very easily assemble and arrange them at one place¹¹.

RESEARCH STUDY:

A study to assess proficiency among nurses on response regarding first hand emergencies.

AIM:

Aim to A study to assess proficiency among nurses on response regarding first hand emergencies.

Study objectives:

1. To assess the proficiency among nurses on response regarding first hand Emergencies.

2. To find out the association between proficiency and selected socio-demographic variables.

3. To provide an informational booklet regarding first hand Emergencies.

ASSUMPTIONS:

Proficiency level may differ from fundamental awareness to expert among nurses.

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

Research Approach:

To assess the knowledge quantitative exploration research approach was used

Research Plan:

Descriptive non- experimental exploration design used.

Research Setting:

City hospital of district kangra (H.P)

Target Population:

The target study was staff nurses of city hospital of district Kangra (H.P).

Sample Size:

The sample size was 60 Samples.

Sampling Method:

For gathering information non-probability convenient sampling technique was used

Addition criteria:

The study included:

INCLUSION CRITERIA:

● Nurses staff who were working at hospital.

● Nursing staff who were present at the time of data collection

● Who are willing to participate

EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

· Nursing staff who will be on leave

Development and Description of Tool:

To assess the knowledge self-structured questionnaire was made

Extensive review of literature i.e., books, papers, specialists’ opinion and representatives’ professional experience and Informal interview with pupil had given the basis for having of self-structured questionnaire.

DESCRIPTION OF TOOL:

In the present study the Tool consists of two sections:

Instrument based on: Demographic Data of registered nurses and self-structured knowledge questionnaire to assess the level of knowledge regarding management of selected medical emergencies. Technique used was self - reporting.

Section A: Demographic data;

Section B: Structured questionnaire

The tool used was confirmed for validity and consistency and a trial study was conducted to determine the feasibility and administering the tool.

Content Validity:

Items were judged by experts for significance, clarity and correctness. Changes were done in the tool as per expert opinion.

Reliability of the Tool:

Consistency was established by split Half method.

The stages taken for development of data were as follows-

· Review of Literature

· Journals, Books, internet as sources used

· Views and suggestions from specialists

RESULTS AND ANALYSIS:

Plan for data analysis

Data were analyzed as follows:

· Described demographic characteristics.

· Mean, SD, and mean % were used to describe area wise knowledge scores.

1. RESULTS:

FREQUENCY AND PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF SUBJECTS ACCORDING TO THEIR SOCIO DEMORAPHIC VARIABLES

Section A	Socio Demographic Variable	Frequency (f)	Percentage (%)
Age	20-25	60	100
	26-30	0	0
	31-35	0	0
	Above 35	0	0
Gender	Male	0	0
	Female	60	100
Religions	Christian	0	0
	Sikh	4	6.6
	Hindu	4	6.60%
	Muslim	10	16.6
Have you studied first hand emergencies management protocol	yes	7	11.6
Have you studied first hand emergencies management protocol	No	53	88.3

Table 1: Distribution of respondents by their age.

Age

20-25

26-30

31-35

Above 35

100%

Description of Respondents Percentage by Age:

Table 1, depicts the distribution of respondents all the respondents 100% were in the age group of 20-25 years.

Table 2: Description of respondents by their gender.

	Gender	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Female	60	100.0	100.0	100.0

The table 2 depicts that all respondents 100% were female.

Table 3: Distribution of respondents by their religion.

	Religion	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Sikh	4	6.7	6.7	6.7
	Hindu	56	93.4	93.4	93.3
	Muslim	0	0	0	0
	Total	60	100.0	100.0	100.0

The table 3 depicts that majority 93.4% of the respondents were Hindu, 0% were Muslims and minority 6.7% were Sikh.

Table 4: Description of the respondents who have studied first hand emergenies.

Have you studied first-hand emergency management?

		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Yes	7	11.7	11.7	11.7
	No	53	88.3	88.3	100.0
	Total	60	100.0	100.0

The table 4 shows that majority 88.3% have not studied first hand emergencies management and minority 11.7% have studied first hand emergencies.

Part-B

PROFICIENCY SCORE:

The Proficiency among nurses on Response Regarding First Hand Emergencies:

		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Good Proficiency	1	1.7	1.7	81.7
	Avrage Proficiency	48	80.0	80.0	80.0
	Poor Proficiency	11	18.3	18.3	100.0
	Total	60	100.0	100.0

*Good: (25-40) *Average:(15-24) *Poor:(0-14)

Association between proficiency level and demographical variables

Age* Proficiency Level:

Crosstab
Count
		New			Total
		Average Proficiency	Good Proficiency	Poor Proficiency	Total
AGE	20-25 years	48	1	11	60
Total		48	1	11	60

Chi-Square Tests
	Value

Pearson Chi-Square	.^a
N of Valid Cases	60
a. No statistics are computed because AGE is a constant.

Gender * Proficiency Level

Chi-Square Tests

	Value
Pearson Chi-Square	.^a
N of Valid Cases	60

a. No statistics are computed because GENDER is a constant.

Crosstab
Count
		New			Total
		Average Proficiency	Good Proficiency	Poor Proficiency	Total
GENDER	Female	48	1	11	60
Total		48	1	11	60

Religion * Proficiency Level:

Chi-Square Tests:

	Value	Df	Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square	2.121^a	4	0.714
Likelihood Ratio	3.122	4	0.538
N of Valid Cases	60

a. 6 cells (66.7%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .07.

Have you studied first-hand Emergency Management* Proficiency Level

Chi-Square Tests
	Value	df	Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square	0.235^a	2	0.889
Likelihood Ratio	0.356	2	0.837
N of Valid Cases	60

a. 3 cells (50.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .12.

DISCUSSION:

In this chapter the investigator interpretively discussed the result of the study. The finding of the present study has been discussed in accordance with the objectives.

The present study was conducted to assess the proficiency level in response regarding first hand emergencies among Nursing staff of city Hospital Kangra. The findings of present study showed that the majority of the nursing staff have average knowledge about first hand Emergencies i.e., 48 participants have average knowledge,1 have good knowledge and 11 have poor knowledge.

The total number of samples is 60 and all are nursing staff city hospital kangra. The minimum age of the participants is 20 and the maximum age is 25.

From the findings it is conducted that 80.0% that majority of the nurses have average knowledge regarding first hand emergencies, 1.7 have good knowledge and 18.3 have poor knowledge regarding first hand emergencies.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Based on the present results of the study the following recommendations are recommended:

On the basis of the present study, the following recommendations have been made for further study:

1. This study can be conducted to assess the proficiency among nurses regarding first hand Emergencies.

2. This study demonstrates that the level of knowledge was unsatisfactory regarding first hand Emergencies.

3. An information booklet can be referred for better knowledge about first hand Emergencies.

REFERENCES:

1. https://fdean.com/RiskManagement/FirstAidAndEmergencyCare

2. R. P. J. C. Ramanayake, Sudeshika Ranasingha, and Saumya Lakmini J Family Med Prim Care. 2014; 3(4): 305–308.

3. Fatemeh Hasandoost Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin Iran Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research Search Advanced Search Users Online: 286.

4. Breithardt Gunther, EckardtLars.The global burden of cardiovascular diseases. Available: http//onlinelibrary.wiley.com.

5. https://www.acls.net/first-aid-situations.

6. AACN (American Association of Colleges of Nursing). 2007. http://www. aacn. nche.edu/Publications/WhitePapers/ClinicalNurseLeader07.pdf (accessed March 26, 2010).

7. P. Yasodha, Anju Thomas. Effectiveness of Planned Teaching Programme on First Aid for Emergencies to Primary School Teachers. Asian J. Nur. Edu. and Research. 2011; 1(3): 85-86.

8. Ali D. Abbas, . Nurses’ Knowledge Concerning Chest Pain Management in Emergency Units. Asian J. Nur. Edu. and Research. 2015; 5(1): 1-7.

9. J.C. Frank. A Pre-Experimental Study to evaluate the effectiveness of planned teaching programme on knowledge and attitude regarding selected first aid management among auto drivers in selected area at Madurai, Tamilnadu 2012. Int. J. Adv. Nur. Management. 2017; 5(2):119-122.

10. yula Bavana, Ruth Grace Mallela, K. Surekha, U. Sujatha. A Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Structured Teaching Programme on First Aid Management of Minor Abrasions among Elementary School Children at Tirupati. Int. J. Adv. Nur. Management. 2015; 3(3): 225-230.

11. Rajwant Kaur, Rajanpreet Kaur, Manpreet Kaur. An Operational Study on Maintenance of First Aid Box in Selected Urban Community of Amritsar, Punjab. Int. J. Adv. Nur. Management. 2015; 3(2): 99-102.

Received on 02.09.2023 Modified on 30.11.2023

Int. J. Nur. Edu. and Research. 2024; 12(1):45-48.

DOI: 10.52711/2454-2660.2024.00010