Assessment of Knowledge and Practices of Community Health Nurses on Data Quality in the Ho Municipality of Ghana

Abstract

Background: High data quality provides correct and up-to-date information which is critical to ensure, not only for the maintenance of health care at an optimal level, but also for the provision of high-quality clinical care, continuing health care, clinical and health service research, and planning and management of health systems. For the attainment of achievable improvements in the health sector, good data is core. Aim/Objective: To assess the level of knowledge and practices of Community Health Nurses on data quality in the Ho municipality, Ghana. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was employed for the study, using a standard Likert scale questionnaire. A census was used to collect 77 Community Health Nurses’ information. The statistical software, Epi-Data 3.1 was used to enter the data and exported to STATA 12.0 for the analyses. Chi-square and logistic analyses were performed to establish associations between categorical variables and a p-value of less than 0.05 at 95% significance interval was considered statistically significant. Results: Out of the 77 Community Health Nurses studied, 49 (63.64%) had good knowledge on data accuracy, 51 (66.23%) out of the 77 Community Health Nurses studied had poor knowledge on data completeness, and 64 (83.12%) had poor knowledge on data timeliness out of the 77 studied. Also, 16 (20.78%) and 33 (42.86%) of the 77 Community Health Nurses responded there was no designated staff for data quality review and no feedback from the health directorate respectively. Out of the 16 health facilities studied for data quality practices, half (8, 50.00%) had missing values on copies of their previous months’ report forms. More so, 10 (62.50%) had no reminders (monthly data submission itineraries) at the facility level. Conclusion: Overall, the general level of knowledge of Community Health Nurses on data quality was poor and their practices for improving data quality at the facility level were woefully inadequate. Therefore, Community Health Nurses need to be given on-job training and proper education on data quality and its dimensions. Also, the health directorate should intensify its continuous supportive supervisory visits at all facilities and feedback should be given to the Community Health Nurses on the data submitted.