Infection control practices among doctors and nurses in a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Background: Basic infection control measures in any healthcare setup can reduce the rates of healthcareassociated infections. A study to assess the knowledge and practice of 400 healthcare personnel regarding hospital infection control practices was performed. Materials and Methods: A structured questionnaire was distributed to the study group and collected the same day. Knowledge and practices of 329 nurses and 71 doctors regarding hand hygiene, SPs, hospital environmental cleaning and needle stick injury were collected and analyzed. Results: The study group had suboptimal knowledge regarding the SPs (55.3%) and risks associated with NSI (31.8%). The implementation of SPs was biased towards the HIV positive status of the patient. Only 57% of the doctors and nurses followed the maximal barrier precautions before a CVC insertion. Discussion: The lack of knowledge and practices regarding basic infection control protocols should be improved by way of educational intervention, in the form of formal training of the doctors and nurses and reinforcement of the same.

Effect of Nursing Guidelines Regarding Infection Control Measures on Performance of Internship Students in Applied Medical Science College at Hafr Al-Batin

“…Jain et al, (24) supported the present study finding and demonstrated that considerable improvement regarding the respondents knowledge and implementation of specific infection control precautions post educational program.…”

Impact of sensitization workshop on knowledge and awareness of hospital-acquired infection among nurses of a teaching hospital in India

“…1,5 Like our study, other studies in India, 7,8 Italy 9 and Ghana 10 identified the nurses' and healthcare students' lack of knowledge regarding HAI. Hand hygiene has always been considered one of the cornerstones of infection control, but adherence to recommendations for hand-hygiene practices remains extremely low in most healthcare settings.…”

The fundamental role of educational intervention on improving health care workers’ knowledge, attitude and practice towards infection control precautions

“…Strict adherence by healthcare workers to standard precautions usually prevents a considerable percentage of these risks. 4 Health care workers' knowledge of standard and isolation precautions has been reported to be insufficient 5 and specialised training must be received before a healthcare worker undertake any patient procedure involving sharp devices. 6 also Mukerji et al 7 reported that interventions to improve hand hygiene compliance are challenging to implement and sustain with the need for ongoing reinforcement and education.…”