The Effectiveness of an Educational Intervention Program on the Quality of Nursing Care for Children with Burn Injuries at Azadi Teaching Hospital in Kirkuk City, Iraq: A Quasi-Experimental, Non-Randomized Study

Background: Paediatric burn injuries require timely, safe and coordinated quality of nursing care because burn severity, fluid loss, wound infection, pain, scarring and psychological distress can affect recovery and long-term function. Structured education may help nurses translate burn quality nursing care guidelines into clinical care. The study assessed the effect of an educational programme on nurses’ quality of care in the burn and plastic surgery centre in Kirkuk, Iraq. Methods: A quasi-experimental pre-post test study with a control group was conducted among 66 nurses at the Burn and Plastic Surgery Centre of Azadi Teaching Hospital in Kirkuk, Iraq. Nurses were recruited using a non-randomised purposive sampling method and allocated to an intervention group (n = 33) or a control group (n = 33). The intervention group received a structured two-week educational programme on quality nursing care for children with burn injuries. Data were collected at baseline, two weeks and two months after completion of the educational programme using a structured self-administered questionnaire. Knowledge was assessed using a total score ranging from 0 to 34, while practice was assessed using participant-level median scores across three predefined domains. Longitudinal changes were analysed using generalized estimating equations with group, assessment time and group × time effects to account for repeated measurements within participants. Results: Significant group × time interactions were identified for knowledge and all three practice domains (all Holm-adjusted p<0.001). Knowledge in the intervention group increased from 9.70±2.32 at baseline to 26.45±2.08 at the two-week assessment and remained at 21.24±3.08 at two months, compared with 11.48±3.86, 13.00±4.35 and 13.70±4.24, respectively, in the control group. The differential improvement was 15.24 points at two weeks (95% CI 14.25-16.23) and 9.33 points at two months (95% CI 8.12-10.55). Significant intervention-related improvements were also observed across all three practice domains. Practice outcomes showed a more sustained intervention effect, as the intervention group achieved higher scores across initial nursing care, nursing care documentation and burn wound nursing care at two weeks and two months. Conclusion: The educational programme was associated with a strong early improvement in nurses’ knowledge and with higher self-reported paediatric burn nursing practice across both follow-up assessments. Knowledge gains declined by the two-month follow-up but remained greater than baseline and the corresponding control-group trajectory.