A STUDY OF KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF NURSING STUDENTS TOWARDS EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION

Introduction: Out of 210 million pregnancies in the world each year, 75 million pregnancies are unintended and/or not planned. Most of these unplanned/unintended pregnancies are not carried to full term, but aborted often in unhygienic conditions leading to serious consequences. Mortality and morbidity related to abortion can be significantly reduced by the use of emergency contraceptive. Materials and methods: A present cross-sectional study was carried out among 140 nursing students of the first and second year studying at Katuri College of Nursing, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, by a convenient sample method over a period of 4 months from March 2010 to June 2010. Results: In the present study, 100% of the respondents were aware about EC. The majority (93.4%) of the respondents were unmarried. Regarding knowledge of nursing students, only 55.71% students give the correct response to ideal clients for EC. Only 51.43% students give the correct response to the methods of EC. Only 57.86% students give the correct response for maximum acceptable time after sex for a woman to take EC. 65% students don't know about common side effect of EC. Regarding attitude of nursing students towards EC, 65% students were of opinion that paramedical staff should dispense EC. Conclusion: This study suggested that participants had overall positive attitude toward EC but there was a lack of knowledge regarding the effectiveness, mechanism of protection from RTI/STDs. So, there is a need to further educate them about EC.