Effectiveness of Nursing Interventional Program on Growth and Development of Under Five Children among Mothers in Selected Paediatric Hospitals

Abstract

Children constitute the most important segment of our population. They are truly the foundation of a nation. Every child should be allowed to achieve his optimal growth and developmental potential, so that he can effectively contribute towards the nation’s productivity. The future of our nation depends on the way in which we nurture our children today. We have to provide every child with a happy childhood and basic necessities along with education, if we make growth and development of the nation our main priority. The aim of the study is to improve the nursing interventional program on growth and development of under five children among mothers in order to promote optimal growth and development of children. The research design adopted for the study was quasi experimental, pre-test and post test design. An evaluative approach was adopted for the present study. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 50 mothers of under five children. The tool used for this study was structured interview schedule. The data collection was done through interview method, and analysis was done by using descriptive and inferential statistics. The significant level was stated at 0.05 level of degree of freedom. Results revealed that the pre-test mean knowledge score was 16.06% and post-test mean knowledge score was found to be 28.24%. The association was analyzed by using paired ‘t’ test and the value was 23.21*. Therefore it was found to be statistically significant at 0.05 level of degree of freedom. Hence the study concluded that the knowledge level among mothers of under five children on growth and development was inadequate and was increased after the administration of nursing interventional program. This indicates that the nursing interventional program was effective. Therefore the null hypothesis is rejected.