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Abstract

Introduction: Early identification of developmental delay is known to have beneficial impact long term. In low and middle-income countries, nursing professionals are the backbone of the health care system and can be at the frontline in identifying this at-risk population, given their background.

Objective: To understand nursing professionals’ knowledge regarding developmental delay and their subsequent screening practices in identifying children with developmental delay as well as to understand the effectiveness of intervention programs which seek to increase knowledge and its impact on subsequent screening practices of nurses.

Study design and Method: An integrative narrative review of literature approach was utilized by reviewing electronic databases from its inception till November 2019. Nurses’ knowledge, screening practice in identifying children with developmental delay, need and impact of educational interventions were identified as the primary outcome measures.

Result: Six-hundred and fifty articles were reviewed, out of which 163 articles were found to be relevant and 09 eligible studies were included for this review. The total number of subjects included for these studies were 917. Overall, the studies reviewed showed that nurses had insufficient knowledge about developmental monitoring and inadequate screening practices in the identification of developmental delays in children. Educational intervention programs were seen to have a positive impact on nurses’ knowledge and screening practices, as per the studies that were reviewed.

Conclusion: There appears to be a gap in the nurses’ knowledge and therefore their ability to effectively screen children who might have developmental delay. Ongoing training programs have a beneficial impact.

Keywords: Developmental assessment; Surveillance; Monitoring; Nurses; Knowledge; Screening Practice