RESUMO
Bronchial asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases of the childhood. Knowledge and beliefs of caregivers' specially mothers related managing their child's asthma, have a major influence on health status. Meanwhile, poor knowledge, skills and lack of self-efficacy may lead to improper decisions about disease management which resulted in delayed care. Aim of this study was to design, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of teaching program on mother's knowledge and practices for their children with bronchial asthma in Al Zarqa Governorate Hospital. Quasi-experimental study was conducted. Pediatric Department at Al Zarqa Governorate Hospital, Zarqa City, Jordan during Ocloher, 2008 to January, 2009. a representative sample of eighty mothers of children with bronchial asthma was involved. Tools of data collection consisted of pre/post assessment questionnaire. pre/post mothers' Practice Checklist and the educational program. Results revealed an improvement in mothers' post-program total means scores of knowledge and practices as compared to pre-program mean scores with a statistical significance difference at p-value of<0.00]. A statistically significant positive correlation was detected between total mothers knowledge scores and their practice at pro/post-program implementation [p<0.01]. There was an improvement regarding child's attacks occurrence after the teaching program implementation. The results of this study indicated the positive effectiveness of a teaching program on mother's knowledge and practices for their children with bronchial asthma. Application of the same teaching program in similar settings and other countries worldwide to confirm its effectiveness, with emphasis on nursing role strongly recommends