Knowledge of Nurses Regarding Cardiac Arrhythmias in Tertiary Care Hospital

arrhythmia can be harmless to life-threatening. Objectives: To assess the knowledge of nurses working in tertiary care hospital regarding cardiac arrhythmias of inpatients. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to collect data from a random sample of 132 staff nurses from various clinical areas of public and private hospitals through structured questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS. Results: The �ndings from this study show that the knowledge level of nurses regarding cardiac arrhythmias can be categorized into two groups: poor and good. From the total 132 nurses, 53 (40.2%) had poor and 79 (59.8%) had good level of knowledge regarding the information of the nurses on cardiac arrhythmias. Conclusions: Based on the �ndings, it is recommended that continuous education and training programs should be implemented to keep nurses updated with the latest evidence-based practices in the care of patients with cardiac arrhythmias. This will ensure that they can provide safe and high-quality care to patients.


Original Article
An arrhythmia is a clinical condition wherein someone's heartbeat is ordinary or irregular this will include a heart rate that is too rapid too gradual or abnormal within the rhythm.It can vary in severity from mild and harmless to existence-threatening [1].Cardiac arrhythmias deliberate with numerous types of atypical coronary heart rhythms consisting of tachycardia bradycardia (especially junctional bradycardia, 2nd and 3rd-degree blocks), and premature beats.These can cause critical complications along with stroke coronary heart failure and surprising cardiac arrest [2].According to the World Health Organization (WHO) in Pakistan around 62% of fatalities are due to CVDs and injuries [3].In Europe, heart sickness were used for this study.All those staff nurses whose experience was more than 1 year were included in the study.Nurses in managerial roles, on leave, or were not willing to participate were excluded from the study.An online selfdeveloped questionnaire whose validity and reliability were checked along with a consent form was shared via WhatsApp groups after participants were informed about the objectives of the research.Data was collected through a valid and reliable self-structured questionnaire, which consists of a total 2 sections, section I consists of 4 questions about socio-demographics, age, gender, professional quali cation, and years of experience as a nurse, and section II consists of 11 questions in which section.The tool total scores were converted into percentage those who obtained below 50% were considered poor knowledge and those who scored above 50% considered high knowledge.To conduct a statistical analysis for this study, the researchers utilized SPSS version 26.The analysis and ndings were then expressed in an organized and easily understandable manner.Permission was taken from the management of the tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan.Written informed consent was taken from staff nurses after they were informed about the objective and purpose of the study.Their right to leave the study any time they want was assured.For this purpose, a consent form was attached as a cover page of each questionnaire, and staff nurses were also assured of their con dentiality and anonymity.electrocardiogram (ECG) changes.An electrocardiogram abbreviated as EKG or ECG measures the electrical activity of the heartbeat [7].With each beat, an electrical impulse (or "wave") travels through the heart.This electrical wave causes the muscles to squeeze and pump blood from the heart.A normal heartbeat on ECG will show the rate and rhythm of the contractions in the upper and lower chambers.Therefore, this will then offer well-timed interventions.Their observation determined that nurses' who are experts in ECG interpretation signi cantly inspired their clinical decision-making and better patient care.A thorough knowledge of ECG ideas and proper schooling can help nurses interpret ECGs and become aware of potential problems.Which in ip can improve patient outcomes and protection.It is therefore vital for nurses to constantly update their understanding and practices in ECG interpretation via education and education possibilities [7].To control cardiac arrhythmias e caciously healthcare professionals, especially nurses, want to have a comprehensive knowledge of the causes, signs, and management of those situations.Nurses play a vital role in the care and management of sufferers with cardiac arrest, as they may be often the primary person to interact with and offer ongoing medical care and interest at some stage in hospitalization [8].However, studies have proven insu cient expertise among nurses about numerous aspects of simple heart failure, including threat elements, pathology, and management [5].These gaps can result in suboptimal care and bad results in sufferers.Highlighting the want to assess nurses' contemporary expertise and understanding of coronary heart failure and perceive any suitable gaps emphasize that they're addressed to enhance patient care.It is crucial for practitioners to devise and enforce effective instructional sources and to recognize the extent of information and elements that affect it.The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge of nurses about cardiac arrhythmia among hospitalized patients in Pakistani healthcare settings.Likewise, we focused on the signi cance of nurses' understanding or knowledge of the management and prevention of clear-cut coronary heart failure and its impact on affected persons.

M E T H O D S
A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used for this research project this study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan.The target population was staff nurses working in clinical areas of different departments.The study duration four months from September to December 2023.The sample size for a target population of N=250, the total sample size was n=132, with a 95% con dence level, which was calculated with the help of www.openepi.com.Convenient sampling techniques

R E S U L T S
The study found that the majority of the nurses (51.5%) were between the ages of 25 and 34, followed by 28.8% between the ages of 35 and 44.Only a small percentage of nurses were in the age groups of 17-24 (15.9%) and 45 and above (4.9%).In terms of gender, the sample was predominantly male (61.4%) with only 38.6% female nurses.The majority of the participants (62.9%) had a diploma in nursing, followed by 36.4% with a bachelor's degree.Only a small percentage (0.8%) had a master's degree.In terms of experience, the majority of nurses (46.2%) had 1-5 years of experience, followed by 30.3% with 6-10 years of experience.However, a considerable number (18.9%) had 11-15 years of experience, indicating a signi cant portion of experienced nurses in the sample.Only a small percentage (4.5%)had more than 15 years of experience (table 1).

Table 1 :
Demographic data of the participants (n=132) was slightly higher than the values from an identical study, in which the score was 32% of nurses with insu cient knowledge[12].Possibly, the different sampling and application of different tools for determining might have caused different.These ndings align with both national and local studies in Pakistan, underscoring the necessity for more extensive education and training of nurses in this area, which can optimize nursing care for this patient population and improve patient outcomes.In this study, 59.8% of the nurses having good level of knowledge as found in our study is lower compared to 80.2% in the study carried out in a cardiac care unit in Saudi Arabia[13]. which

Table 3 :
Knowledge LevelCopyright © PJHS, by Crosslinks International Publishers countries just might not have access to the cutting-edge technology.Sometimes, the opportunity to learn those skills just doesn't happen you can't teach the practice of interpreting ECGs if you're stuck with an out-of-date textbook.And there's likely the same kind of absence when continuous education is vital to managing cardiac arrhythmias.Nurses may not be required to have ongoing training or to update knowledge/skills in many developing countries, which can lead to outdated knowledge and inappropriate training in newer techniques and technologies related to cardiac arrhythmias.This study's results are consistent with earlier research performed in countries in development and show that nurses in these countries need continuing education and ongoing training to the highest degree in order to effectively manage and care for patients with cardiac arrhythmias.Healthcare policy makers and organizations should prioritize continuing training and education for nurses to eradicate knowledge de cits and improve patient outcomes.The current study has some similarity with studies conducted in developed countries.In a study conducted in United Kingdom, most of their participants showed good knowledge about cardiac arrhythmias[16].Another study was conducted in Canada having quite similar ndings regarding knowledge of nurses about cardiac arrhythmias, they found that nurses having good knowledge[12].In contrast to tertiary world countries, the ndings in the emerged countries there was a major discrepancy in to the application of formal training in the interpretation of ECGs from the following British study 75% went for formal training in the interpretation of ECGs[16].The vast majority (97%) of Filipino nurses had ECG training, compared to only 73% of nurses in this study.This might be explained by the differences between the health systems of developing countries such as the Philippines and those of the rst world.Not surprisingly, experience was also signi cant in a Canadian study, which found that knowledge of cardiac arrhythmias increased signi cantly with years of nursing experience nurses with more than ten years' experience were more knowledgeable about arrhythmias than those with less[12].All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.