Effectiveness of an educational program on nurses' knowledge about management therapy for snakebite in the emergency department.

Abstract

Background: Snakebite is a serious life-threatening health crisis in many parts of the world. Snakebite is still a major cause of morbidity and mortality, especially in areas where a considerable portion of the population works primarily in agriculture, which raises the risk of coming into contact with snakes. Health professionals should have a thorough understanding of the most efficient approaches to managing the occurrence of snakebites. To assess nurses' knowledge about management therapy for snakebites and assess the efficacy of an educational program designed to improve nurses' understanding of management therapy measures for snakebites while working in the emergency department.

Materials and methods: The current study employed a quasi-experimental design. The sample size is 70 nurses in the emergency department utilizing a pre-test/post-test methodology to assess changes between the control group (35) and the study group (35) after implementing the educational program. The research was conducted between December 2023 and March 2024. The study population was all emergency department (E.D.) staff nurses available during data collection. It worked in E.D. for over a year in Al-Shamiya General Hospital-Diwaniyah Health Directorate, Iraq.

Result: The educational program demonstrates a remarkable impact on the knowledge of the nurses in the study group, as evidenced by the substantial and statistically significant difference in post-test scores (P < .001).

Conclusion: At post-evaluation, the knowledge of emergency department nurses regarding management therapy for snakebite had been enhanced after the implementation of the educational program.