Abstract
Awareness of International Oxygen Therapy Guidelines (IOTG) may have impacted oxygen therapy experience during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This study explored if nurses at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) were aware of IOTG and if this awareness influenced their practice of oxygen administration during Covid-19 era. A survey of 80 nurses, from both pediatric and medical departments was carried out. Data collection was done through a self-administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the association between variables with Chi-square and t-test at p < 0.05. The mean age of the respondents was 39.82 ± 9.32, and 66.3 % were females. Respondents had an average of 2.47 years (±2.35) since the last oxygen therapy refresher training. Over 60 % of participants had been administered oxygen less than a month preceding the survey. Lack of awareness of IOTG (X2 = 7.113 (df = 1, n = 80), p = 0.008) and experience administering oxygen to a covid-19 patient (X2 = 6.851 (df = 1, n = 80), p = 0.018), were associated with low awareness of Covid-19 ventilation and oxygenation guidelines. Experience of having administered Oxygen to a Covid-19 patient (X2 = 6.851 (df = 1, n = 80), p = 0.018) and having reviewed or used any guidelines on oxygen therapy (X2 = 7.113 (df = 1, n = 80), p = 0.008) were significantly associated with awareness of covid 19 ventilation and oxygenation guidelines. Further regular training in oxygen therapy is needed to ensure good clinical practice.
Document Type
Journal Article
Volume
22
School
School of Nursing and Midwifery
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Publisher
Elsevier
Identifier
Irene Ngune: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4951-2712
Comments
Odhiambo, J., Kivuti-Bitok, L. W., Omare, S., & Ngune, I. (2025). Assessing the effect of awareness of international oxygen therapy guidelines on oxygen administration practices among nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: A survey of nurses working in the pediatric and medical departments of a National Teaching and Referral Hospital in low-resource settings. International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences, 22, 100835. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijans.2025.100835