Authors
Rachana S Menon, Intern, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences, Wardha
Smita Damke, Professor, Department of Microbiology, Dr Rajendra Gode Medical College
Abstract
Background: Healthcare associated infections (HAIs) are one of the most common complications of health care management. Effective infection prevention and control in healthcare facilities depends on the proper implementation and practice of policies and procedures on infection control as well as awareness and compliance of healthcare workers regarding the same. There arises a need to ensure strict measures of infection control among nursing staff since they are front-line workers in the ongoing struggle against the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was conducted to assess the knowledge of theory and practice of infection control among the nursing staff working in the hospital outpatient departments, wards, operation theatres, and intensive care units of a tertiary care hospital.
Materials and Methods
• Type of study: Cross-sectional study
• Study participants: Nursing staff working in a tertiary care hospital
• Duration of study: 2 months
• Inclusion criteria: At least one year job experience and a bachelor degree
• Exclusion criteria: Reluctance to participate
To conduct the survey, permission was obtained from the Ethical Committee of the Institute.
A questionnaire was distributed among the nursing staff working in the hospital outpatient departments, wards, operation theatres, and intensive care units.
The data was entered into an Excel sheet and the scores were tabulated in percentage.
Results: The results of the study show that the nurses in the present study have excellent knowledge regarding the theory of infection control. However, their overall knowledge of practice didn’t reach an excellent level. It was also seen that the knowledge of practice improved with experience. In regards to place of activity, the highest scores of knowledge of both theory and practice were seen in the operation theatres and intensive care units.
The study reported no relationship between knowledge of theory or practice of infection control and the age and educational qualification of the study participants.
Conclusion: The overall high knowledge levels may be attributed to the active working and monitoring of the Hospital Infection Control Committee. Factors like years of experience and place of activity had a positive correlation with higher scores while factors like age and educational qualification had no significant correlation with knowledge levels.
Keywords: Infection control, Knowledge and Practice, Nursing staff