A Study to Assess the Knowledge regarding Retinopathy of Prematurity among Staff nurses in a Tertiary Care Centre, Kerala

Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) or Terry Syndrome, previously known as Retrolental Fibroplasia is a disease of the eye affecting prematurely born babies and is increasingly being recognised as an important cause of childhood blindness in India. ROP is sensitive to the quality of neonatal inpatient care provided and nurses play a pivotal role in the NICU management of these tiniest babies.1 Neonatal nurse's specialised knowledge and competent nursing skills as well as widespread timely screening and management are urgently called for to control the third epidemic of ROP. The main aim of this descriptive study was to assess the knowledge of staff nurses regarding ROP in a selected hospital in Kerala. The sample consisted of 60 staff nurses selected randomly and data was collected using a socio personal data sheet and a structured knowledge questionnaire developed by the researcher to assess the level of knowledge regarding ROP. Content validity of the tool was established after consultation with subject experts. Reliability of the tool was done and found to be 0.81. The study showed that 43% of nurses had good knowledge, 50% had average knowledge and 7% had poor knowledge regarding ROP. The knowledge score ranged from 3 to 15 with a mean of 9.3 and standard deviation 2.68. There was no significant association between level of knowledge of staff nurses and their selected personal variables exceptage.