Five-years retrospective study on utilization and uptake pattern of family planning services in primary health centres in a peri-urban settlement in southwest Nigeria

Background: Family planning is one of the most basic and essential healthcare services that can promote and ensure women's reproductive health worldwide. However, there has been a low level of utilisation of family planning services by women in developing countries. Therefore, the paper documented the utilisation rate, the uptake pattern of family planning services, and the socio-demographic characteristics of the women who attended the selected primary health centres in the Ife-Central local government area. Method: A five-year retrospective review of primary health centre’s records of clients who attended selected health centres from January 2017-December 2021. Data was obtained from the client cards and the family planning record book. A total of 2572 clients’ records were evaluated. Results: the study revealed the modal age group of 25-34 (58%) and modal parity of 3-4 (51%) children. The most significant proportion of the women was married (94.6%), with a secondary level of education (89%). Injectables were the most utilized family planning services among women in primary health centres, followed by the uptake of condoms. The Implant was the only increasing uptake pattern of family planning services within 5 years in primary health centres. Conclusion: Injectable contraceptives have a higher utilization rate, and the uptake pattern of family planning services varied in selected PHCs. However, the uptake pattern of implants increased consistently. Therefore, there is a need for continuous awareness creation and advocacy for the uptake of family planning services to promote women’s health and well-being. Trial registration: It was not retrospectively registered

Nigerian Nursing Students’ Readiness to Use Electronic Health Records in Clinical Practice

Most hospitals in Nigeria still rely on paper-based medical records. This aspect  has created a lot of challenges to the documentation in the health care system in the country. The purpose of this descriptive cross-sectional  study conducted in 2019 was to assess Nursing Students’ readiness to use electronic health records in clinical practice. A systematic sampling technique was used to recruit a total of 189 nursing students from two schools of nursing in Ibadan, Oyo State Metropolis in Nigeria; 63 from each year of  the three year program. Data collection involved a self-constructed questionnaire comprised of four sections. Data analysis, which involved SPSS, version 21.0, included frequency counts and percentages. The findings of the study included the following:  less than half of the respondents (49%), mostly female (78%) were within the age range 16-20;  a significant number of respondents (86.2%) were ready to utilize electronic health records in clinical practice; the  perceived barriers to electronic health records use were computer illiteracy, lack of training, unstable power supply, and cost of maintenance and implementation (64.0%; 56.6%; 64.0% 56.1%) respectively. In conclusion, the study highlighted nursing students' readiness to use electronic health records and  the substantial impediments to doing so. Therefore, it is recommended that all relevant stakeholders must work together to reduce the obstacles that could prevent the deployment of electronic health records in clinical nursing practice

Student nurses’ practices and willingness to teach relatives breast self-examination in Nigeria

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related death for women worldwide. Breast self-examination (BSE) is an essential, low-cost, and simple tool for detecting breast cancer early. Employing the idea of ‘charity begins at home’ by involving student nurses in teaching BSE to relatives will improve early detection. Aim: To assess nursing students’ practice and willingness to teach BSE to their relatives. Setting: A college of nursing and midwifery in one state under North-Central Nigeria. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive design was employed. Through incidental sampling technique 197 respondents were selected from the first to the third year. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential analyses, with a p-value of 0.05 were conducted. Results: Respondents indicated where they learned about BSE. There were 98.5% respondents who had heard about BSE, and 89.8% of them had good practice of BSE. However, a quarter did not teach BSE to relatives. There were no statistically significant associations noted. Conclusion: Most of the nursing students were aware of BSE and knew how to perform it, although a quarter did not teach BSE to their relatives. Therefore, it may be necessary to sensitise nurses to cultivate the habit of teaching BSE to relatives and women in the community. Contribution: It is crucial to provide nurses with the skills and knowledge required to carry out BSE effectively, as well as teach women how to perform it on themselves, to improve breast cancer detection rates in Nigeria