Purpose: The aim was to assess the awareness, attitude, knowledge level and practice of pregnant women on preconception care at the Tamale West Hospital Antenatal clinic in the Northern region of Ghana.Methodology:  This study used a descriptive cross-sectional design with a quantitative approach. A quota sampling procedure was used to arrive at 200 participants. The starting point was randomly selected and a systematic random sampling method was used to select the study participants. Simple random sampling using the lottery approach was used to select the participants for the study. The target population was women (literate and illiterate) within the age range of 16 and 40 years attending the Tamale West Hospital for antenatal care. The list of all the women who fell within the target population was obtained from the register of the unit. The inclusion criteria were pregnant women who visited the Tamale West Hospital within a month’s duration for antenatal care services. A semi-structured questionnaire which had both open-ended and close-ended questions was used to generate the data. Descriptive statistics which involves frequencies and percentages was used to represent both independent and dependent variables of the study. Close-ended responses were inputted using the Microsoft Office Excel 2016. Open-ended responses were compiled in relation to the objectives of the study. Other relevant outcomes were cross-tabulated using SPSS version 21.Results: Though 20.0% of the pregnant women had positive attitude towards preconception care, only 34.5% were aware of preconception care and 42.5% and 23.5% had poor and high knowledge levels on preconception care respectively. When the age group was cross-tabulated with awareness, the results showed no statistical significance between the two variables (χ2=9.1; p=0.58). However, there was an association between the educational status (Tertiary level) (χ2=49.6; p=0.01) and religious affiliation (Muslim) (χ2=43.3; p=0.01) of the respondents on awareness. Educational status (Tertiary level) (χ2=45.4; p=0.01) and religion (χ2=21.3; p=0.01) were found to influence knowledge statistically. In terms of overall attitude, only Muslim (χ2=4.12; p=0.04) statistically impacted on the study.Conclusion: Pregnant women who attend Antenatal clinic at Tamale West Hospital tended to have low level of awareness and poor knowledge, they have negative attitude towards preconception care services and seldom practice preconception care. There is the need for health care authorities to intensify awareness and implement preconception care policies.Recommendation: The present study demonstrated that there was a need to create awareness which can also increase the knowledge and practices of reproductive age women or couples. Hence, there is the need for health authorities to put together comprehensive preconception care policies for health institutions to abide by.

Purpose: This study sought to explore the knowledge level, practice and perception of the usefulness of reflective practice among pediatric nursing students in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional study was used in carrying out the study. The study was conducted among pediatric nursing level 300 and 400 students of the University for Development Studies, Tamale, with an age range between 17 and 38. A structured questionnaire in electronic form (using Google forms) was administered to respondents through their class social media (WhatsApp) platform. Data analyses were done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 and Microsoft Excel. The Fisher Exact Test was used to determine how statistically significant independent variables influence the dependent variables. Results: Findings showed that 88.5% (54/61) of the students knew reflective practice, 98.4% of them practised reflection. All respondents agreed that reflective practise has a positive impact on personal and professional development. No association existed between the age of respondents and knowledge of reflection (Fisher’s exact test=5.18; p=0.159).  However, there were significant differences between the sex of respondents and knowledge of reflection (Fisher’s exact test=12.09; p=0.001) and between the class of respondents and their level of knowledge (Fisher’s exact test=10.90; p=0.004). Conclusion: Reflection is a very useful professional and personal development tool that yields positive care and learning outcomes when effectively practised. Hospitals and educational institutions should develop processes and practices that make refective practice an early and routine part of an everyday classroom and clinical practice. Recommendation: Reflection should be developed as a course and be inculcated into the first-degree nursing curriculum in universities.

Purpose: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding epilepsy among nurses within the Asutifi North District with the aim of understanding their subjective experiences and knowledge on epilepsy in a sociocultural context and how their attitude shape their practice towards people with epilepsy. Methodology: The study employed an exploratory descriptive cross-sectional design. The study population consisted of nurses who have been licensed by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana and working in government facilities. The exclusion criteria were private health facilities, non-trained health professionals and other health professionals without nursing background, and student nurses on clinical attachment during the period of study in the district. Multistage sampling technique was used to select the study participants from the communities. A standard statistical formula was used to arrive at a sample size of 102. Data was collected by using a semi-structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics involving frequencies and percentages were used in representing data. Responses on other items were cross-tabulated. The statistical tool that was used for analyzing the data was by STATA version 12.Results: Findings showed that 67.7% (69/102) of the nurses were aware of the causes of epilepsy, 59.8% have low level of knowledge on the disease. Though 82.4% of the nurses suspect people with epilepsy to have mental illness, 70.6% of the nurses had positive attitude towards epilepsy. However, 52.9% exhibited poor practices towards the disease. The socio-demographic characteristics of religion (Muslim) (p=0.017), area of specialty (RMN) (p=0.045) as well as close family relationship with epilepsy (p=0.001) were significantly associated with knowledge on epilepsy. Factors that were found to influence attitude towards epilepsy were sex (Female) (p=0.037), religion (Muslim) (p=0.012) and specialty area (RMN) (p=0.054). The area of specialty statistically influences their practices on epilepsy (p=0.001). There was no statistically significant association between knowledge on epilepsy and practice (p=0.134). However, attitude significantly related to practices on epilepsy (p=0.008) and indicated that negative attitude was more likely to be associated with poor practice.Conclusion: Nurses at the Asutifi North District tended to have low knowledge, positive attitude and poor practices on epilepsy.Recommendation: The Ghana Health Service in collaboration with the Ministry of Health should run intermediary workshops, at least every six months, to train nurses in epilepsy diagnoses to reduce the treatment gap. The health directorate should raise awareness and educate the communities on epilepsy to reduce stigma. Enhancing nursing education and training on epilepsy by the Ministry of Health and its agencies is imperative to improving health care delivery for people living with the disease.

Background: Hand hygiene is recognized as the leading measure to prevent cross-transmission of COVID-19. The compliance of nurses with handwashing guidelines is vital in preventing COVID-19 disease transmission among patients. Globally, few studies have explored this subject, especially on the nursing students’ perceptions and barriers of standard hand hygiene precautionary measures amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.  Purpose: The study aimed to assess the perceptions and barriers associated with standard hand hygiene practice during the COVID-19 era among first degree nursing students undertaking their clinical rotation at the Tamale Teaching Hospital of Ghana. This study was conducted in April 2021.    Materials and methods: The study employed a descriptive cross-sectional design with a quantitative approach. The study population consisted of first degree student nurses of the University for Development Studies who were on clinical rotation at the Tamale Teaching Hospital in the Northern Region of Ghana. The exclusion criteria were nursing students from other tertiary institutions who were having their vacation practicum at the hospital. A simple random sampling technique was used to select the study participants from the wards of the hospital. A standard statistical formula was used to arrive at a sample size of 120. Data was collected by using a paper-based self-designed structured questionnaire in English language that has closed- and open-ended questions. Descriptive statistics involving frequencies and percentages were used in representing data. By using a chi-square test, a p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant when the association between independent and dependent variables was cross-tabulated. The statistical software that was used for analyzing the data was SPSS version 23.      Results: The study had a total of 120 participants with a mean age of 26.48 and a standard deviation of 3.49. On the distribution of perception about hand hygiene, findings indicated that 105 (87.5%) had good perception. Religion and sex respectively were significantly associated with hand hygiene perceptions (χ2= 13.118, p=0.011; χ2=12.49, p=0.014). Conclusion: Though few of the student nurses had a satisfactory perception regarding hand hygiene, it is a cause to worry about since there exist other barriers influencing standard hand hygiene practices at the Tamale Teaching Hospital. Recommendation: There is the need for the quality assurance unit of the hospital to ensure strict compliance to COVID-19 protocols by all categories of health professionals by seeing to it that standard hand hygiene practices are adhered to, irrespective of religious background.

Background: Epilepsy is one of the world’s oldest known brain disorders among several medical conditions. A recent study has indicated that 70 million people are estimated to suffer from this disease. Despite the increase education and health care, some health professionals continue to linger in darkness about cause and treatment options of the disease.Purpose. The main objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitude regarding epilepsy among nurses within the Asutifi North District with the aim of understanding their subjective experiences and knowledge on epilepsy in a socio-cultural context and how their attitude shaped their practice towards people with epilepsy.Methodology. The study employed an exploratory descriptive cross-sectional design with 102 participants using a standard statistical formula. Data was collected using a paper based semi-structured self-administered questionnaire and analysis was by STATA version 12.Results. Findings showed that 67.7% (69/102) of the nurses were aware of the causes of epilepsy whereas 59.8% have low level of knowledge on the disease. Results indicated that 82.4% of the nurses suspect PWE have mental illness, 70.6% of the nurses had positive attitude towards epilepsy. The socio-demographic characteristics of religion (Muslim) (p=0.017), area of speciality (RMN) (p=0.045) as well as close family relationship with epilepsy (p=0.001) were significantly associated with knowledge on epilepsy. Factors that were found to influence attitude towards epilepsy were sex (Female) (p=0.037) and religion (Muslim) (p=0.012). However, specialty area (RMN) (p=0.054) did not statistically impact on the study. Nurses at the Asutifi North District therefore tended to have low knowledge and positive attitude on epilepsy. It is important to improve training and health care delivery for epilepsy.Recommendation. The Ghana Health Service in collaboration with the Ministry of Health should run intermediary workshops, at least every six months, to train nurses in epilepsy diagnoses to reduce the treatment gap. The health directorate should raise awareness and educate the communities on epilepsy to reduce stigma. Enhancing nursing education and training on epilepsy by the Ministry of Health and its agencies is imperative to improving health care delivery for people living with the disease