Knowledge, attitude, and practice of ambulance nurses in prehospital care in Malang, Indonesia

Abstract

BackgroundNurses are responsible for staffing ambulances in Indonesia. However, those nurses may have limited knowledge and skills in prehospital care because the Indonesian nursing curriculum focuses mostly on in-hospital care. This study investigated the perceived knowledge, attitude, and practice of ambulance nurses in prehospital care in Malang, Indonesia. MethodThis was a cross-sectional study consisting of a paper-based survey involving 465 participants from 45 health care services in Malang, Indonesia. ResultsParticipants’ attitude score for prehospital care was the highest and knowledge of prehospital care was the lowest score. This study revealed that knowledge (p=0.022), attitude (p=0.012), and practice scores (p=0.026) were significantly different based on the training experience. The education level of participants contributed significantly to the difference in attitude (p=0.001) and practice scores (p=0.034). Participants’ experience had a significant contribution to the difference in attitude score (p=0.002). The knowledge (p=0.001) and practice (p=0.002) for prehospital care of hospital-based ambulance nurses were significantly higher than puskesmas-based ambulance nurses. ConclusionsThis study revealed that Indonesian ambulance nurses lacked prehospital care knowledge and skills. The findings from this study provide information to establish a national regulation covering human resources for prehospital care in Indonesia both for educational and clinical levels.