Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice regarding Geriatric Care among Nurses at Tertiary Care Hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding geriatric care among
nurses at public and private tertiary care hospitals in Karachi.
Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at Dr. Ruth K.M Pfau Civil Hospital which
is a public setting and at Dr. Ziauddin Hospital in North Nazimabad, which is a private hospital. Registered
nurses with a valid license who were working at these two hospitals were the target population. Sample size
was calculated by the software ‘OpenEpi’ version 3.0 using a 95% confidence level with 80% power of the
study. The participants were selected using consecutive sampling technique.
Results: Out of all the participants (n=374 nurses), 190 (50.8%) were male and 184 (49.2%) were female.
The majority of nurses demonstrated good knowledge 157 (42%), positive attitude 305 (81.6%), and good
practice level 289 (77.3%). In addition, most nurses from public hospitals had good geriatric care knowledge
92 (41.4%), positive attitude 181(81.5%) and good practice level 182 (82.0%) compared to a private hospital.
This was statistically significant with (p-value<0.05).
Conclusion: Over all, this study found that nurses working in both private and public tertiary care hospitals
had good knowledge of geriatric care, a positive attitude, and good practice towards caring for the elderly
patients.