The Use of Oxytocin by Healthcare Professionals During Labor

Background: Oxytocin is widely used in perinatal medicine, but it can cause serious side effects. Health professionals should be familiar with the pharmacokinetics, dosing regimen, and fetal effects of oxytocin. This study aims to explore the use of oxytocin by healthcare professionals during labor. Methods: This study was conducted in one medical faculty, one training and research hospital, one maternity hospital, and one private hospital in Adana, Turkey. The sample group included 107 participants. The data were gathered using a survey prepared in line with the literature. The survey was comprised of 30 questions. These questions concern the social demographic information of the participants, the knowledge and actual oxytocin use, and the views of the participants. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: The average age of the participants was 36.76 ± 8.70 years, the mean of working experience in the delivery room was 7.79 ± 7.73 years. 85.6% of the participants who answered the question of possible effects of oxytocin as contraction, 57.9% of the possible side effects as fetal distress. 69.2% of the participants stated that they applied oxytocin after dilution in a fluid while 47% stated that they applied it after dilution in fluid with 5% Dextrose. While 40% of the participants responded that they sometimes forgot to administer medication, 39.2% stated that they did not register medication in their survey responses. Conclusion: It was determined that most of the participants answered the questions about the effect of oxytocin correctly, but they could not respond to all the side effects of oxytocin. It was found that most of the participants could not answer the storage conditions that are important for the effectiveness of the drug correctly. In addition, the importance level given to the principles of drug administration by the participants was generally found to be high.