INTRODUCTION:

Self medication is the human behaviour in which an individual uses a substances influence to self administer medication for physical or psychological ailments. Self medication is an important health issue especially in developing countries in India.

In developing countries where universal access to health care is yet to be achieved, self medication is one of the common and preferred modes resorted by the people. Various studies reported that self medication may lead to delay in care seeking it results in paradoxical economic loss due to delay in the diagnosis of underlying conditions and appropriate treatment.¹

Self medication can lead to interaction between drugs which would be prevented, not the people sought care from a licensed medical practitioner. Practising self medication for drugs like antibiotics might lead to drug resistance and hence, there needs to be a check on these practice.²

NEED FOR THE STUDY:

According to the World Health Organisation statistics report in 2011, there are 19.3 million Nurses and out of this 91.8 crore Nurses are practicing self medication.³

Self medication becomes a common problem among teen and young adults and in medical and paramedical students. In India 12% of Nurses are using self medication. In Karnataka there 14.8% of Nurses are having self medication practices.³

OBJECTIVES:

1) To assess the knowledge of Nursing students regarding adverse effects of self medication.

To find out the association between knowledge of Nursing Students regarding adverse effects of self medication with their selected personal variables

Research Design: Descriptive research design

Variables:

1) Study variable is:

Knowledge

2) Personal variables are:

Personal variables are age, gender, education, religion, type of family, family income and previous source of information.

Setting of the study:

The setting is the physical location and condition in which data collection takes place. This study was conducted in JSS School of Nursing at Mysuru.

Population:

Population is the entire set of individual or objects having same common characteristics⁵. In the present study population comprised of Nursing students studying in selected Nursing Instituitions at Mysuru.

Sample and Sampling:

Sample consists of a subset of population selected to participate in a research study.⁵ The sample for the present consists of 60 Nursing students studying in selected Nursing Institutions at Mysuru.

Sampling Technique:

Sampling is the process of selecting portion of the population. Non probability convenience sampling technique was used.⁵

Sampling Criteria:

Inclusion criteria:

· Nursing students who are available at the period of data collection.

Exclusive criteria:

Nursing students who are not willing to participate.

Instrument used for study:

Selection and Development of tool:

A structured knowledge questionnaire was prepared to collect the data to achieve the objectives of the study based on review of literature and consultation with experts. A thorough review of literature from journals, articles, published and unpublished research studies helped the researcher to develop the tools.

The instruments for the study consists of

· Proforma to collect the samples personal variables (Annexure D)

· Self administered structured knowledge questionnaire o assess the knowledge of Nursing students regarding adverse effects of self medication.(Annexure E)

Description of the tool:

Personal Variables:

Age, gender, education, religion, family income, type of the family and previous source of information.

Self administered structered knowledge questionnaire:

Through the review of literature, the structured knowledge questionnaire was prepared for the present study. The tool consists of 20 items regarding self medication. There were 3 alternative responses for each items and each correct response given by the participant was awarded a score of one. The total knowledge score ranges from 0 to 20. The score is further divided arbitrary as follows;

· Poor knowledge [0-7]

· Average knowledge [8-14]

· Good knowledge[15-20]

Data Collection Procedure:

Permission for conducting the study was obtained from the Principal, JSS School of Nursing, Mysuru. The data was collected on 1/06/2017. To obtain the free and true response, the subjects were explained about the purpose and usefulness of the study and assurance about the confidentiality of their response was also provided. And informed consent was obtained from each subject to indicate their willingness to participate in the study.

60 Nursing students who met the inclusion criteria were selected by using non probability convenience sampling technique. Data was collected by administering proforma for selected personal variables and self administered structured knowledge questionnaire regarding adverse effects of self medication among nursing students. Samples took 20 minutes to complete the procedure and data collection was terminated after thanking the respondents.

RESULTS:

Description of selected personal variables of study subjects:

Majority nursing students 45(75%) of them were in the age group of 20 year and 15(25%) were in the age group of 19 years. 52(86.7%) female and 8(13.3%) were male. 53(88.3%) were belonging to Hindus and 7(11.7%) were Christian. 44(73.7%) have family income between Rs.5000-10000 and 16(26.3%) were having the family income between Rs.10001-20000. 54(90%) belongs to nuclear family and 6(10%) belongs to the joint family. 33(55%) are having the previous source of information and 27(45%) is not having the previous source of information.

SECTION 2

Table 1DESCRIPTION OF KNOWLEDGE OF NURSING STUDENTS n=60

Si no	Level of knowledge	Frequency	percentage
1	Poor knowledge (0-7)	22	36.6
2	Average knowledge (8-14)	35	58.4
3	Good knowledge(15-20)	3	5

Table 2 Mean, median, range, standard deviation of knowledge scores of Nursing Students regarding adverse effects of self medication. n=60

Group	Mean	Median	Range	SD
Nursing students	7.5	7.6	3-17	±1.4

SECTION 3

Findings related to association between level of knowledge of nursing students regarding adverse effects of self medication with their selcted personal variables:

chi square value was found to be significant at 0.05 level of significance for personal variables i.e. religion and previous source of information. Hence the researcher partially accepted the null hypothesis.

IMPLICATIONS:

The findings of the present study have implication for Nursing practice, Nursing education, Nursing administration and Nursing research.

Nursing practice:

The Nursing education is a source of teaching strategy and can fulfil the role of uplifting the Nurses knowledge. Nurse can play vital role in educating nursing students regarding self medication and also the nurse need to update the knowledge regarding self medication by attending various continuous Nursing education.

Nursing education:

Education is a key component to update and improve the knowledge of an individual. Nurse educator can educate by organizing various workshop/seminars regarding self medication and its adverse effects.

Nursing administration:

Nursing administrator is the key person to plan, organize and conduct in-service educational programme to the Nursing personnel. Continuing education helps the Nurses to update their knowledge and also helps in their professional development.

Nursing research:

The topic has great relevance to the present life style of Nursing students. The study has revealed that Nursing students had average knowledge regarding adverse effects of self medication. Nurse researchers have to take initiative to conduct more studies related to this topic. Obviously the present study can support the future research efforts to emerge with similar results.

LIMITATION:

The limitation of the present study were:

1. The study was limited to Nursing students who are studying in JSS School of Nursing.

2. The sample size of the study was limited to 60 Nursing Students; hence it limits generalisation of the finding beyond the study sample.

3. The knowledge is assessed through questionnaire.

4. Non probability convenience sampling technique was adopted.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. A similar study can be carried out on a large sample for broader generalisation.

2. A comparative study can be conducted between Nursing students of government and private nursing colleges regarding adverse effects of self medication.

3. A experimental study can be conducted among Nursing students by giving a structured teaching programme.

CONCLUSION:

Study concluded that revealed the majority 35 (58.4%) of Nursing students were having average knowledge regarding adverse effects of self medication.

Computed chi- square values shows that there was association between level of knowledge of Nursing students regarding adverse effects of self medication with variables such as religion and previous source of information and other variables were not significant. Hence the null hypothesis is partially accepted.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT:

This was project conducted by Ms. Neenu KS, Ms. Rakhi MV, Ms. Roohin Taj and Ms. Shilpa Sabu IV year BSc nursing students of JSS College of Nursing as a part of their requirement.

REFERENCS:

1. Kriss Ben Varghese. A study to assess the effectiveness of structured teaching programme on knowledge regarding adverse effects of selected self medication among nursing and non nursing students in selected colleges, Bangaluru.

2. Kanayo Patric Osemne, a Lamikarra. A study of the prevalence of self medicatin practice among university students in south western Nigeria.www. researchgate.net/ publication.2012 August;11(4); available from: https:// googleweblight.com

3. www.who.int>hrh>statistics>hwfstats

Received on 03.01.2018 Modified on 15.04.2018

Int. J. of Advances in Nur. Management. 2018; 6(2): 122-124.

DOI: 10.5958/2454-2652.2018.00028.8