Nurses' competencies and resource availability in the care of diabetes mellitus patient attending primary health care Centres in Anambra State

Diabetes mellitus is a global public health concern with a rise in prevalence rate in Nigeria. There is increase in report on the high mortality rate of the diabetes at different communities as a result of the incompetence of care by the nurses and other health workers.  This study was aimed at determining the competencies of nurses and availability of resource for diabetes mellitus care at Primary Health Care Centres in Anambra State.

Design: Cross sectional survey.

Method: Questionnaire was adopted for the collection data from 158 nurses and midwives from the Primary Health Care Centres in the selected local government areas of Anambra state. Data was analysed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20 Spearman Rank Order Correlation was used to determine the relationship between socio-demographic characteristics and level of competency in diabetes care among the primary health care nurses at significant level of P<0.05. and the result was presented in tables and frequencies.

Result: The study revealed poor theoretical knowledge of diabetes mellitus care (36.97%) by the nurses, although their perceived skill and perceived practice towards diabetes care was good. Also, there was adequate material resources for diabetes mellitus care in majority of the primary health care centres. There was no significant association between the nurses age and knowledge competence but a significant relationship was found between the nurses years of work experiences and their skills (Rho = -0.221, P = 0.005). Therefore, there is need to bridge the gap between theory and practice in diabetes care among nurses and midwives in primary health care.