Assessment of knowledge of pharmacovigilance among the nurses of tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Background: The Pharmacovigilance Programme of India envisages that “All” health care professionals will play an important role in making the program a success. Nurses and midwives have better population outreach as compared to physicians alone. The objectives were to assess the knowledge of pharmacovigilance among the nurses of a tertiary care hospital. Methods: The study was conducted from the month of March 2015 to July 2015. Nurses were provided pre-structured questionnaire for filling after explaining the aim and objectives of the study. Responses were pooled and analyzed. Results: 100 nurses returned completed forms. 63% respondents had heard about the term pharmacovigilance. 41% of these could correctly define it. All the respondents had heard about adverse drug reaction (ADR), 39% could correctly define it. 35% of the participants were of the opinion that both doctors and nurses should report ADR. 76% were not aware of any National Programme of Pharmacovigilance. 72% of nurses claimed to be aware of common ADRs of the drugs they routinely administered by them. 81% of the nurses were not routinely informed to be on lookout for specific drug reactions by the treating physicians. 91% of nurses were of the opinion that periodic pharmacovigilance training will benefit ADR reporting with 58% favoring yearly workshops. Conclusion: The present study focused on the major lacunae in efficient ADR reporting. Nurses being a major stakeholder in healthcare delivery, can be mobilized in the field of ADR reporting, which currently is not the norm, albeit with adequate training.