Assessment of nurses’ knowledge and skills toward postpartum hemorrhage prevention

Background: Maternal death from postpartum hemorrhage is a key maternal health indicator and directly reflects the care provided during the intrapartum and postpartum periods. The aim is to assess nurses’ knowledge and skills toward postpartum hemorrhage prevention. Study design: A descriptive design was utilized to conduct the study. Study Setting: The study was conducted at the postpartum unit at the obstetrics and gynecology department at Mansoura university hospital. Sample: A convenienve sample of maternity nurses (70). Tools: Three tools were used for data collection: Tool I: A structured interviewing questionnaire. Tool II: knowledge assessment sheet toward postpartum hemorrhage prevention. Tool III: observational checklist to assess nurses’ skills toward postpartum hemorrhage prevention. Results: The present study reveals that more than half of the nurses’ total knowledge toward postpartum hemorrhage prevention was poor, while nearly two-third of the nurses’ total skills toward postpartum hemorrhage prevention were inadequate. The study indicated a statistically high significant relation between the total nurses’ knowledge and their total skills toward postpartum hemorrhage prevention. Conclusion: The present study concluded that the nurses had inadequate total skills score toward postpartum hemorrhage prevention. Recommendations: Development of educational programs to improve nurses’ knowledge and skills toward prevention of postpartum hemorrhage.