STUDENT NURSES’ ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE TOWARDS DOCUMENTATION OF NURSING CARE IN ACHIEVERS UNIVERSITY, OWO, ONDO STATE

ABSTRACT Background: Documentation of nursing care is very important in the healthcare system. Documentation provides a comprehensive account of nursing care rendered to patients and it serves as a legal record that specifies the care and the progress of the patient. The primary objective of the study was to assess student nurses’ attitude and practice towards the documentation of nursing care in Achievers University, Owo, Ondo State. Methods: A descriptive design and simple random sampling technique was used for this study. Cochran formula for population determination was used to select 216 respondents for the study. Lydia Hall’s Care, Cure, Core Theory was the theoretical framework for the study. Data was collected using a self-structured questionnaire and was analyzed using frequency count, percentages and bar charts respectively, while Pearson Chi-Square was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Ethical consideration was obtained as required. Results: The study findings showed that majority 198(91.60%) of the respondents had adequate knowledge on documentation of nursing care, and majority 208(96.3%) of the respondents had positive attitude towards documentation of nursing care. Also, majority 114(52.7%) of the respondents had good practice of nursing care documentation, 50(23.1%) had moderate practice, while 52(24.2%) had poor practice of nursing care documentation. Conclusions: The researcher concluded that documentation is very important in nursing practice to ensure continuity of care, and improve the quality of care rendered to patients. Based on the findings of the study, the researcher recommends that student nurses should be taught the guidelines to follow to ensure an accurate and legible documentation of nursing care, and nursing students should be properly motivated as necessary to encourage them to properly document their nursing activities.