Abstract
BackgroundDespite the devastating consequences of Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), TBI misconceptions are common among healthcare professionals. As an essential member of multi-professional team providing TBI care, it is important that nurses have correct information and adequate skills to achieve the best possible outcomes for TBI. For example, some common misconceptions about TBIs are that a second blow to the head can improve memory functioning and wearing seatbelts can cause as many brain injuries as it prevents. In India, perhaps such misconceptions towards TBI among nursing professionals were not yet documented. As nursing students form the future health workforce, understanding TBI misconceptions among nursing students in resource-limited settings like India will provide useful information for strengthening the nursing curricula for improved care and rehabilitation of TBIs.MethodsWe used a cross-sectional survey to study the TBI misconceptions among nursing students in India. A Common Misconceptions about Traumatic Brain Injury (CM-TBI) questionnaire was administered to 154 nursing students from a nursing college of a tertiary care neuro-centre in India. The mean percentage of misconceptions were calculated for 7-domains of CM-TBI. T-test for independent samples and ANOVA were used to study the association of misconception with socio-demographic variables using total score for each respondent.ResultsOf the 143 nursing students who completed the survey, majority of them were female (97%) and in the 19-20 year age-group (95.1%). Domain on brain damage (81.1%) had highest rate, while amnesia domain (42.0%) had lowest rate of misconception. The overall mean-score was 22.73 (Standard Deviation: 4.69) which was significantly higher than the median score of 19.5. The study did not show significant differences on overall misconceptions about TBI for any of the socio-demographic characteristics.ConclusionsMisconceptions about TBIs were common among nursing students and it was pervasive irrespective of age, gender, place of residence and year of education. A need to strengthen nursing curriculum in the area of TBIs has been emphasized for improved care and management of TBIs. The study findings also suggest the need for understanding such misconceptions among other healthcare professionals involved in TBI care.
Highlights
Despite the devastating consequences of Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) misconceptions are common among healthcare professionals
Undergraduate nursing students in 2nd and 3rd year who had completed the theoretical instructions in trauma care nursing and who had attended clinical practicum in surgical and emergency care unit were included for the present study
This was to ensure that nursing students had enough exposure to TBI care
Summary
Despite the devastating consequences of Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), TBI misconceptions are common among healthcare professionals. Some common misconceptions about TBIs are that a second blow to the head can improve memory functioning and wearing seatbelts can cause as many brain injuries as it prevents. As nursing students form the future health workforce, understanding TBI misconceptions among nursing students in resource-limited settings like India will provide useful information for strengthening the nursing curricula for improved care and rehabilitation of TBIs. Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are a major public health challenge globally. According to World Health Organization, TBI will be one of the major cause of death and disability by the year 2020 [2]. TBI usually manifests as a complex injury leading to higher rates of residual disabilities after one-year of hospitalization [3]. A silent epidemic of TBIs has taken hold in India, as it progresses to greater growth and development in terms of motorization and urbanization [5]
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