IMPACT OF AN EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTION ON ASTHMA KNOWLEDGE AND METERED-DOSE INHALER TECHNIQUE AMONG NURSING STUDENTS OF GOVERNMENT COLLEGE OF NURSING, BENGALURU

Nurses being one of the important members of the healthcare team, play a significant role in providing care and education. Current effective treatments for asthma are in the form of metered-dose inhalers. An effective control is achieved only when the patient is comfortable to use the metered-dose inhaler device correctly. This study was therefore planned to evaluate their knowledge and to assess the effect of a training programme in a tertiary healthcare facility. The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of education intervention on nurses^, knowledge of asthma and metered-dose inhaler technique. This was a pre and post intervention study which involved 45 second year B.Sc nursing students of BMCRI, Bangalore. Pre test consisted of self administered questionnaire about asthma knowledge and demonstration of inhaler technique using pMDI (pressurized metered-dose inhaler). After this, education intervention was given which was followed by a post test. The total mean percentage score of asthma knowledge increased significantly from 63% to 85.5% after education intervention. pMDI demonstration was very poor at 20% (pre intervention) which increased drastically to 86.6% (post intervention). The knowledge of asthma and metered-dose inhaler technique improved significantly after the educational intervention. Regular training programmes and workshops must be conducted to improve the nurses^, knowledge on asthma and their competence in pMDI usage.