Nurses’ Knowledge About using Hydrotherapy as A Non-Pharmacological Pain Relieve Method in Labor and its Barriers to be Used

Introduction: Hydrotherapy is an effective, alternative intervention that can be used by care providers as a nonpharmacological pain relief method to help laboring women cope with labor. A wide variety of pain relief measures are available to women in labor. Aim of the Study: This study assessed nurses' knowledge about the use of hydrotherapy as a nonpharmacologic painrelief techniques during labor and identify the barriers of hydrotherapy to be used in Women's Health Center, Assiut University Hospitals, Egypt. Research Design: Descriptive study design was utilized in this study. Subjects and Methods: All nurses who work in obstetrics department, Women's Health Center, Assiut University Hospitals were included in the study. They are all 120 nurses. This study provides nurses knowledge of the state of hydrotherapy among and the science of the effects of hydrotherapy with labor and delivery. The physiologic mechanism, benefits, practice implications, and barriers of the use of hydrotherapy during labor all are assessed by the nurses during implementation of this study through a structured self administrative questionnaire. Results: This study provides nurses knowledge about using hydrotherapy during labor. They showed that approximately three quarter (73.3%) of the participant nurses' knowledge were adequate, while (26.7) of nurses had inadequate knowledge about the use of hydrotherapy in labor. Nurses encounter that hospital policy (100%) followed by environmental factors (52%) are the major barriers to the use of hydrotherapy in labor. Effort required for hydrotherapy (48%) and human resources (41%) are indicated to be equivalent barrier of the use of hydrotherapy in labor. Their knowledge represented (26.7%) and not considered to be a major contributing barrier to the use of hydrotherapy during labor. Conclusion: This study concluded that providing hydrotherapy requires a supportive environment, adequate nursing Correspondence to: Dr. Entisar Mohammad Youness, E.mail: [email protected] staffing, applied polices and collaborative relationships among the health care team.