Pediatric Nurses' Knowledge About Childhood Autism and Difficulties They Face During Nursing Practices in Turkey.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the research study is to examine the knowledge levels of nurses working in pediatric clinics about childhood autism, the influencing factors, and the difficulties they experience while caring for these children.

DESIGN

This study was conducted as descriptive and cross-sectional.

METHODS

The sample of this cross-sectional study comprised 195 nurses working in pediatric clinics. The research data were collected using the "Descriptive Characteristics Questionnaire" and the "Knowledge About Childhood Autism Among Health Workers (KCAHW) Questionnaire." The data were analyzed with a linear regression model in the IBM SPSS v23 program.

FINDINGS: The average knowledge score of nurses about childhood autism was 11.49 ± 4.26 (out of 19). Gender and previous exposure to a child suspected of having autism significantly affected the KCAHW score (P < .001). The rate of nurses who experienced difficulties while caring for children with autism was 30.8%. Of the nurses who experienced difficulties while caring for children with autism, 35.9% experienced difficulties in invasive procedures, 32.8% in communicating with the child, 26.7% in taking samples from the child, and 22.1% in drug administration. A large majority of nurses (90.8%) reported that separate physical areas were needed in hospitals to intervene in children with autism.

CONCLUSIONS

The recommendation is that pediatric nurses are trained about childhood autism and that studies are conducted to organize clinical settings for nursing practices.