Conocimientos, prácticas y actitudes de enfermería para la atención de personas con tuberculosis

Introduction: Being one of the 10 main causes of mortality worldwide, tuberculosis causes a great economic and social burden to societies. Considering that diverse factors are involved in the treatment adherence, and consequent cure, nursing attention, assessed through the related knowledge, practices, and attitudes, becomes of paramount importance. Objective: To assess the tuberculosis-related knowledge, practices, and attitudes among nurses. Methodology: This is a quantitative and descriptive study with a non-probabilistic sample of 19 nurses in primary care. Regarding knowledge, the basic general, and diagnosis and treatment related were assessed. Regarding practices, the resources identification, visits, care plans, and digital tools use were assessed. Regarding attitudes, the cognitive, behavioral, and affective areas were assessed. Results: The majority of nurses demonstrated a fair or low level of tuberculosis related knowledge. A little more than half of the participants demonstrated a regular or fair level of tuberculosis related practice. In general, the attitudes towards providing tuberculosis care were good. Conclusions: It is necessary to strengthen the tuberculosis related nursing attention in terms of the 3 indicators assessed in this study. Without a sound base of knowledge, an expertised practice, and a good attitude related to addressing the problem of tuberculosis, it is hard to accomplish the objectives, programs, and policies of Public Health, a situation which indirectly, can also have negative impacts on the health professionals.