KNOWLEDGE REGARDING CHILD ADOPTION PROCEDURE AMONG STAFF NURSES.

Adoption is defined as the social and legal process that create a new family giving the adopted children the same rights and benefits as those born into the family to children without permanent family. The rising incidence of infertility has led to an increase in the number of couples and individuals seeking to adopt babies. A descriptive study was undertaken to assess the knowledge regarding child adoption procedure among staff nurses. Aim : This study was carried out to assess the knowledge regarding child adoption procedure among staff nurses. Setting and Design : Obstetrical, Gynaecological and paediatric units were used to select 100 staff nurses to collect relevant data. Quantitative research approach and a descriptive research design was used for the study. Material and Methods : The study was conducted on a sample of 100 staff nurses selected from Obstetrical, Gynaecological and paediatric units using total enumerative sampling technique. Data was collected using self structured multiple choice questionnaire. The collected data was organized, tabulated, analyzed and interpreted using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results : The findings of the study revealed that majority i.e.82% of the staff nurses were having average knowledge regarding child adoption procedure, only 13% were having good knowledge and Discussion:-Present study revealed that out of 100 most of the staff nurses i.e. 82% were having average knowledge regarding child adoption procedure. A study conducted by on infertile couples in 2011 revealed that 89% of couples were aware about child adoption procedure. In the present study, no significant association of knowledge regarding child adoption procedure with socio-demographic characteristics was found. Similar results were revealed by a study conducted by A.O. and K.O.(2009) to assess the knowledge and attitude towards child adoption among 350 women and it was found that there was no statistical association of knowledge with marriage, type, age, religion, the duration of infertility and respondents willingness to adopt.

Adoption is defined as the social and legal process that create a new family giving the adopted children the same rights and benefits as those born into the family to children without permanent family. The rising incidence of infertility has led to an increase in the number of couples and individuals seeking to adopt babies. A descriptive study was undertaken to assess the knowledge regarding child adoption procedure among staff nurses. Aim : This study was carried out to assess the knowledge regarding child adoption procedure among staff nurses. Setting and Design : Obstetrical, Gynaecological and paediatric units were used to select 100 staff nurses to collect relevant data. Quantitative research approach and a descriptive research design was used for the study. Material and Methods : The study was conducted on a sample of 100 staff nurses selected from Obstetrical, Gynaecological and paediatric units using total enumerative sampling technique. Data was collected using self structured multiple choice questionnaire. The collected data was organized, tabulated, analyzed and interpreted using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results : The findings of the study revealed that majority i.e.82% of the staff nurses were having average knowledge regarding child adoption procedure, only 13% were having good knowledge and very few i.e. 5% were having below average knowledge. There was no significant association of knowledge regarding child adoption procedure with socio-demographic characteristics. After the completion of study, informational booklets based on CARA guidelines related to child adoption procedure were distributed among staff nurses.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….... Introduction:-
Adoption is defined as the social and legal process that create a new family giving the adopted children the same rights and benefits as those born into the family to children without permanent family. The adoption process varies slightly depending on the law and regulation that apply in the person's jurisdiction and the type of adoption he wish to pursue. However, there are common elements of every type of adoption which he/she should be prepared to encounter before the beginning of application process. According to a study conducted in India, 47% of parents were not having any idea related to child adoption procedure. The United Nations Children's Emergency Fund estimates that there are25 million orphaned children in India in 2007. Another study estimates there are about 44 million ISSN: 2320-5407 Int. J. Adv. Res. 7(4), 825-827 826 destitute children and over 12 million orphan and abandoned children in India. To combat the increasing rate of orphan and abandoned children in India and infertility rate, staff nurses working in a hospital should have knowledge related to child adoption procedure and agencies so that they can encourage and guide couples for child adoption.

Research approach & Research design:
For the present study, quantitative research approach and descriptive research design was used.

Target population:
The target population of the study included staff nurses working in Obstetrical, Gynaecological and paediatric units of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana.

Sample and Sampling technique :
100 staff nurses were selected using total enumerative sampling technique.

Description of the Research tool Research tool:
Research tool was divided into following two parts :

Part A :
A socio-demographic sheet which includes age, marital status, type of employment, education, training institute, any special educational programme on child adoption procedure attended, source of information regarding child adoption procedure and working profile includes total experience in clinical, area of work at present, total experience in Obstetrical, Gynaecological and paediatric units.

Part B :
A Self Structured multiple choice questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge of staff nurses regarding child adoption procedure. It consisted of 40 questions.

Ethical Consideration
Prior to data collection, permission was obtained from the concerned authority of hospital and ethical committee of the institution. The objective and purpose of the study was explained to the subjects. Subjects were given full autonomy to participate or withdraw from research anytime. It was ensured that the information will be kept confidential.

Data collection procedure
Data was collected within one week period by investigators through self report (pen-paper) method. It took an average of 40-45 minutes. Staff nurses were little reluctant to give information but rapport was established to gain their confidence and information was sorted out with the help of Multiple choice questions on the basis of CARA's guidelines.

Major Findings
The present study was conducted on 100 subjects out of which less than half i.e. 43% of the staff nurses were in age group of 21-30 years followed by 39% were in age group 31-40 years, 18% in age group of 41-50 years.
Majority i.e.82% of the staff nurses were having average knowledge regarding child adoption procedure, only 13% were having good knowledge and very few i.e. 5% were having below average knowledge.
The majority of staff nurses i.e. 76% had knowledge about the reason for adoption followed by 74% having knowledge about the eligibility criteria for child adoption and only 26% of them had knowledge about adoption in case of NRIs.
There was no significant association of knowledge regarding child adoption procedure with socio-demographic characteristics. After the completion of study, informational booklets based on CARA guidelines related to child adoption procedure were distributed among staff nurses.

Discussion:-
Present study revealed that out of 100 most of the staff nurses i.e. 82% were having average knowledge regarding child adoption procedure. A study conducted by Saumaya Vinod Joshi, Rupesh Prasad, Arvind Singh Khushwaha on infertile couples in 2011 revealed that 89% of couples were aware about child adoption procedure.
In the present study, no significant association of knowledge regarding child adoption procedure with sociodemographic characteristics was found. Similar results were revealed by a study conducted by A.O. and K.O.(2009) to assess the knowledge and attitude towards child adoption among 350 women and it was found that there was no statistical association of knowledge with marriage, type, age, religion, the duration of infertility and respondents willingness to adopt.