Nurses’s Knowledge of Pharmacokinetics Services in Saudi Arabia

Objectives: To explore the nurses’ basic knowledge of Pharmacokinetics services in Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: It analyzes a cross-sectional survey that discusses the nurses’ basic knowledge of some items for Pharmacokinetics services in Saudi Arabia. The survey comprised respondents’ demographic information about the assessment of pharmacokinetics services, their knowledge of nurses, and the resources of pharmacokinetics services used by nurses. The 5-point Likert response scale system was used with closed-ended questions. The survey was validated through the revision of expert reviewers and pilot testing. Besides, various tests of the reliability of McDonald’s ω, Cronbach alpha, Gutmann’s λ2, and Gutmann’s λ6 been done with the study. Furthermore, the nurses’ basic knowledge of Pharmacokinetics services was analyzed using the Survey Monkey system. Besides, the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (S.P.S.S.), Jeffery’s Amazing Statistics Program (J.A.S.P.), and Microsoft Excel sheet version 16. Results: A total number of 408 nurses responded to the questionnaire. Of them, almost two-thirds responded from the central region (140 (34.31%)) and southern areas (119 (29.17%)), with statistically significant differences between the provinces (p=0.000). Most of the responders were from Ministry of Health (M.O.H.) hospitals (267 (65.44%)), with a statistically significant difference between working sites (p=0.000). Males responded more than females (210 (52.24%)) versus 192 (47.76%)), with statistically significant differences between all levels (p=0.000). Most of the responders were in the age group of 36-45 years (227 (55.91%)) and 46-55 years (99 (24.38%)), with statistically significant differences between all age groups (p=0.000). The majority of responders, 372 (91.85%), worked at an organization that had drug levels form, with most of them, 378 (93.33%), ever requesting Pharmacokinetics services or drug levels with statistically significant differences between all answers (p=0.000). The average score of basic knowledge of nurses about the Pharmacokinetics Services was (3.48). The element “Have you ever heard about the concept of Pharmacokinetics (drug levels)?” obtained the highest score (3.88). The aspect “heard about the concept of therapeutic drug monitoring” (3.71). In contrast, the lowest score was obtained for the element “In Saudi Arabia is there a Pharmacokinetics service” (3.12). Followed the score of the component “In Saudi Arabia, are there legal provisions in the medicines act that provide for Pharmacokinetics activities” (3.13), and for the part “In Saudi Arabia, is there an official standardized form for requesting Pharmacokinetics services or drug levels” was (3.13), with a statistically significant difference between the responses (p<0.000). The most resources for Pharmacokinetics Services were the Internet (e.g., Google searches, WebMD, etc.) 261 (64.13%), Medical association literature/ guidelines/recommendations 248 (60.93%). Conclusion: The nursing Knowledge of pharmacokinetics services or drug levels was acceptable. The majority of healthcare organizations had pharmacokinetics services. However, the pharmacokinetics standards and legality of pharmacokinetics services are missing from nursing knowledge. Most of the pharmacokinetics references were from the internet and Medical associations and guidelines. The knowledge of pharmacokinetics services should be reviewed and scandalized. Targeting education and training in pharmacokinetics is optimal demand for nursing workforces.

Keywords: Nurses, Knowledge, Pharmacokinetics, Drug level, Saudi Arabia.

View: DOWNLOAD PDF  | DOWNLOAD SLIDE