Statistical Measurement of Nurses’ Level of Awareness of Value of Occupational Therapy Services in a Paediatric Ward

Abstract

The study investigated the extent of information the nurses have about Occupational Therapy (OT) and its place within a health Multidisciplinary Team (MDT). It took place in the paediatric ward of the Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital in Gauteng Department of Health. It was stimulated by the adverse attitude of the nurses to the OT staff and/or students from Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU) for prescribed OT activities in that ward. The purpose of the study was to demonstrate that if nurses in a MDT setting did not understand OT purpose, then this may cause lack of their appreciation of OT activities and of occupational therapists. Forty-three nurses participated in the study. Most of them did not know much about OT and seemed to have different impressions about the OT profession. The study recommended that the nurses should be informed about other practitioners in the MDT of their workplace, how each one works and the scope of the nurses’ work.