Evaluation of the knowledge of nurses about the care of newborn with respiratory distress syndrome

Premature babies are at risk for respiratory distress syndrome, defined as a breathing disorder in immature lungs. Respiratory distress syndrome is a life-threatening lung disease caused by small, underdeveloped alveoli and inadequate pulmonary surfactant levels. This study was conducted to evaluate the knowledge of nurses regarding the care of newborns with respiratory distress syndrome. The study was conducted between April 5, 2023 and May 1, 2023. From the population of 350 nurses, 185 nurses with intensive care experience were determined as the sample. Data were collected with the data collection form created by the researcher. The survey created and developed by the researcher consists of two parts: the first part includes the demographic and professional characteristics of the nurses, and the second part includes the knowledge level of the nurses regarding the care of newborns with respiratory distress syndrome. The reliability of the survey was determined by a pilot study. Data were analyzed with IBM SPSS V23 and R programs. Compliance with normal distribution was examined with Shapiro-Wilk and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the number of correct answers that were not normally distributed according to pairs. The Kruskal Wallis test was used to compare the number of correct answers that were not normally distributed according to groups of three or more, and multiple comparisons were examined with the Dunn test. Relationships between non-normally distributed data were examined with Spearman's rho correlation coefficient. Analysis results are mean±s for quantitative data. Categorical data are presented as deviation and median (minimum – maximum) and frequency (percentage). The significace level was taken as p<0.050. While the average age of the participants was 27.34, the minimum age was 20 and the maximum age was 49. 47.6% of the participants were high school graduates, 57.3% were married, 46.5% did not take a course, 57.6% of those who took a course took a neonatal course, 65.4% had 1-5 years of experience as a nurse. It was observed that 48.6% of them worked in the NICU for less than 1 year. The majority of participants reported complications of respiratory distress syndrome; nursing care in oxygen therapy of newborns with chronic lung disease (87.6%) and respiratory distress syndrome; In oxygen treatment, the nurse answered correctly (87.6%) by saying yes to the following items: "The nurse should make sure that the equipment used is working properly and evaluate the baby's response to the treatment." A statistically significant, negative and very weak relationship was obtained between the age of the participants and the number of correct answers to complications of respiratory distress syndrome (p=0.017). It was determined that there was a statistical difference between the number of correct answers regarding the causes of respiratory distress syndrome (p=0.017), complications of oxygen therapy in newborns with respiratory distress syndrome (p=0.018) and complications of respiratory distress syndrome (p=0.014) according to educational level. The median total number of correct answers obtained varies according to the marital status factor (p=0.008). It was determined that there was no statistical difference between the median number of correct answers according to the number of courses (p = 0.437). It was determined that there was a statistical difference only between the respiratory distress syndrome symptoms and the number of correct answers according to the nursing period (p = 0.010). It was determined that there was a statistical difference between the definition of respiratory distress syndrome and the number of correct answers for risk factors for respiratory distress syndrome according to the duration of work in the newborn intensive care unit. In most of the answers where there was a difference, the correct answer values of those with less experience and higher education level were found to be higher. As a result of the research, it is recommended that nurses working in the neonatal intensive care unit be provided with in-service training that ensures understanding of respiratory distress syndrome in every aspect and that the education level of nurses serving in this field is high.