Access to and Utilization of Information by Nurses and Midwives of Specialist Hospital in Yola Adamawa State, Nigeria.

Abstract

The research  investigated access to and Utilization of Information by Nurses And Midwives in Specialist Hospital, Yola. Information is the life wire of any profession to be efficient and effective. patients visits the hospital for different needs, and for the nurses and midwives to be effetive  in the discharge of their responsibilities they need vital information. Information in the technological age can be accessed and utilized  in various ways. It is on these bases that the researchers investigated how they access and utilize information.The objectives of the study were to determine the types of information, sources of information used, purpose for the use of the information and problems militating against access to and utilization of information by nurses and midwives in Specialist Hospital Yola, Adamawa State. The target population was 286 nurses and midwives and a sample of 200 was selected, out of which only 194 responded and was used for the analysis. Descriptive statistics was used for the analysis. The major findings revealed that patients’ psychology, economic status, drug efficacy are the type of information they access, patients and laboratory test results are the major sources of information. Counseling, treatment and self-protection were the major purpose for utilization of information by nurses and midwives. The major problems faced in accessing and utilization of information includes language barrier, lack of functional laboratories, libraries, computer illiteracy and lack of access to internet services. The researchers therefore recommended that, Nurses and midwives need to be computer literate especially in the information age to access vital information that would facilitate improved services to patients.