scholarly journals Knowledge and practice of universal precautions among health care workers in four national hospitals in Kabul, Afghanistan

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (04) ◽  
pp. 535-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Said Hafizullah Fayaz ◽  
Michiyo Higuchi ◽  
Tomoya Hirosawa ◽  
Mohammad Abul Bashar Sarker ◽  
Zakhro Djabbarova ◽  
...  

Introduction: This study aimed to assess the knowledge and practice of health care workers (HCWs) towards universal precautions (UPs) and to look into any associations between knowledge and practice. Methodology:A cross-sectional study was undertaken between August and October 2012, involving 300 HCWs from four national public hospitals in Kabul, Afghanistan. A self-administered questionnaire assessing the knowledge and practice of UPs was used. Results: Among the 300 respondents, the mean knowledge score was 5.2 with a standard deviation (SD) of 1.5. On the practice score, the mean was 8.7 (SD = 2.2). A total of 90.6% and 70.8% of HCWs believed that UPs were necessary in contact with urine/feces and tears, respectively, although UPs are not necessary in these cases. On the other hand, 57.8% reported that they always recapped the needle after giving an injection, and 31.8% did not always change gloves in between patients. There were no associations between the knowledge and self-reported practice of UPs. Conclusions: The HCWs in Kabul had inadequate knowledge and poor practice of UPs. Training for HCWs is needed to encourage them to adhere to practice based on improved knowledge.

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (231) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandip Bhandari ◽  
Medha Sharma ◽  
Gentle Sundar Shrestha

Introduction: Health care workers are at higher risk of infection with the coronavirus disease as they are directly involved in the treatment of infected patients and perform aerosol-generating procedures. Proper knowledge of this disease can influence the positive attitude, good practices and enhance their safety. We aim to study the knowledge of COVID-19 among health care workers of the tertiary care hospital of Nepal. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among health care workers of Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre from May 20 to June 19, 2020. Ethical approval was taken from the Institutional Review Board (IRB No: 4-2020). Written informed consent was taken from all respondents. Correct answers were summated to reflect the mean knowledge, expressed as a percentage. Data analysis was done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 21. Results: The mean general knowledge score was 95.7%. The mean medical knowledge score was 70.5%. Only 42 (56.8%) of physicians and 103 (53.6%) of nurses had a higher level of medical knowledge regarding COVID-19. Likewise, very few lab technicians 7 (21.9%) and none of the pharmacists had a higher level of medical knowledge. Conclusions: The healthcare workers of this centre have adequate knowledge regarding COVID-19. However, periodic training for all workers, especially the nurses and allied workers, may help to update the knowledge and hence enhance their safety and that of their patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 614-623
Author(s):  
Sukhbir Singh ◽  
◽  
Manjunath B Govindagoudar ◽  
Dhruva Chaudhry ◽  
Pawan Kumar Singh ◽  
...  

<abstract><sec> <title>Background</title> <p>Health Care Workers (HCW) are among the primary stakeholders and front liners in the fight against COVID-19. They are in direct contact with the patients as primary caregivers and, therefore, are at a higher risk of infection. This Pandemic offers a unique opportunity to explore the level of knowledge among ground-level HCWs during this global health crisis.</p> </sec><sec> <title>Objective</title> <p>We conducted this study to assess the knowledge and awareness among HCW regarding the COVID-19 Pandemic in a tertiary care hospital.</p> </sec><sec> <title>Methods</title> <p>It was a cross-sectional study done on HCW comprising faculty, senior residents, junior residents, demonstrators, and nursing staff of various specialties directly involved in the care of suspected/confirmed COVID-19 patients. A pretested questionnaire consisting of 20 questions was used as a study tool and was circulated through the digital platform.</p> </sec><sec> <title>Results</title> <p>There were a total of 437 respondents. In the subgroup analysis, the respondents in the age group of 55–64 years had a higher mean knowledge score, followed by the respondents in the age group of 18–24 years. For years of experience, the mean knowledge score varied from 13.89 (10–20 years of experience) to 13.83 (5–10 years of experience). The mean knowledge score was the highest for consultants (14.10), followed by Resident Doctors (13.96).</p> </sec><sec> <title>Conclusions</title> <p>This study has shed some critical clues for further research and interventions. Firstly, as health care workers are probably learning about COVID-19 from their practical exposure rather than formal teaching, it is pertinent to address this issue through well-planned formal sessions of training workshops and lectures.</p> </sec></abstract>


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruqayyah B. Al Anazi ◽  
Saeed M. AlQahtani ◽  
Amal E. Mohamad ◽  
Sabry M. Hammad ◽  
Hossam Khleif

Background. Violence against health-care workers (HCWs) showed increasing worldwide concern. No previous studies addressed violence against HCWs in the Northern region, Saudi Arabia. Objectives. To determine the prevalence of violence against HCWs in public hospitals and primary health-care centers in Arar city, KSA, and to identify its associated factors. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 352 HCWs in the Ministry of Health (MOH) facilities in Arar city from 1st October to 31st December 2018. Consented HCWs completed a structured self-administered questionnaire which was modified from the WHO questionnaire for violence. Results. Out of 352 health-care workers, 171 (48.6%) reported exposure to violence during work in the past year. The verbal violence was the most common form experienced (83%). Physicians were the main exposed group (59%). Being non-Saudi HCWs, older with longer duration of experience, working in hospitals, working in the emergency room, and working in evening or night shifts were significantly associated with more exposure to violence. The unmet demand for the patient and deficient staff number were the leading reasons for aggression. Only 16.4% of assaulted HCWs reported the violent acts to the higher health affairs authority with the most frequent reasons for nonreporting were their perception that it was useless and their fear of negative consequences. Conclusions. Violence against HCWs in Arar city, KSA, is a prevalent problem. Improving health security system and increasing staffing and their training on proper dealing with violence are highly recommended. Also, enforcing rules and regulations is an important demand to control and prevent violence against HCWs.


Author(s):  
Premnath Parvathy ◽  
V S. Aiswariya ◽  
P. Abinaya ◽  
Thomas Aiswarya ◽  
B. Hariharasudan ◽  
...  

Background: In the light of the pandemic COVID 19, world’s attention has turned to the immune system and body’s defense force. Identification of the level of epidemic preparedness and understanding of Ayurvedic, Homeopathic and Siddha regimens among health care workers is required to utilize their services in main stream health care effectively. Aim: The aim of this study to access the knowledge and practices of possible Ayurvedic, Homeopathic and Siddha regimens during novel corona virus pandemic. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional survey was undertaken among the health care workers with the help of 15 close ended questions. The one out of six-knowledge question were scored and analysed to identify differences with sociodemographic variables (age and occupation). Response to the three out of five questions on practices were analysed to Identify the differences, differing significantly in both knowledge and practice score. Result: Out of 286 responses, knowledge score significantly differed with age (P-value 0.04) and occupation (P-value 0.01). Practice scores significantly differed with age (P-value 0.01) and occupation (P-value 0.00). Our study shows that 70% of study population is aware of the medicinal properties of Neem, Tulsi and Ashwagandha against COVID 19 and 65% strongly believes the immune boosting effect of Vitamin C and 77% include citrus fruits in their diet. Conclusion: Adopting prophylactic and therapeutic strategies on the basis of Ayurveda, Homeopathy and Siddha are useful to the mankind in fighting against the COVID 19.


SAGE Open ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824401773514
Author(s):  
Gayatri Khanal ◽  
Suman Thapa

Improper HH by health care workers is responsible for about 40% of nosocomial infections resulting in prolonged illnesses. A cross-sectional study was carried out in three hospitals to identify the knowledge and practice of HH. There was a significant difference in the level of knowledge among the health care workers ( p < .05). There was a positive association ( r = 0.247) between knowledge and practice skill of health care workers. Nearly three quarters of the health care workers (74.2%) had been trained for infection prevention. Soap was the most popular agent (57.5%) for HH. The health care workers had good level of knowledge (77.3%) and practice (91.7%) on HH. However, half of the health care workers were unaware of all of the steps of HH and they were lacking in knowledge and practice skill regarding important components of HH. Therefore, there is an urgent need for continuing medical education for infection prevention, to increase their awareness and compliance toward HH.


2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moges Tadesse ◽  
Takele Tadesse

Accidental needlestick injuries sustained by health-care workers are a common occupational hazard and a public health issue in health-care settings. An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted and 30.9% of health-care workers had experienced at least one needlestick injury in the previous year.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuchen Ying ◽  
Liemin Ruan ◽  
Fanqian Kong ◽  
Binbin Zhu ◽  
Yunxin Ji ◽  
...  

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tesfaye Solomon ◽  
Dejene Lemessa

Abstract Background: Health care workers are susceptible to acquiring blood and body fluids borne infections due to their occupations involving contact with patients and their body fluids, although studies conducted in Ethiopia are scarce. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the magnitude of exposure to blood and body fluids among health care workers in governmental health facilities in West Shewa Zone, Ethiopia.Materials and methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted from May 19 to June 25, 2018. A total of 381 health care workers were selected by simple random sampling from 31 sampled governmental health facilities using proportional to size allocation. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires, entered into Epi-info version 7, and analyzed by SPSS version 21. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) calculated for variables retained in the multivariable logistic regression and significance declared at p<0.05.Results: Of 377 health care workers who participated, the study found that 233 (61.2%) were exposed to blood and body fluids in their lifetime. Previous needle stick injury (AOR=0.30; 95%CI: 0.12-0.75), type of health facility (AOR=0.42; 95%CI: 0.26-0.68), handwashing practice (AOR=0.15; 95%CI: 0.07, 0.31), and perceiving at risk (AOR=0.16; 95%CI: 0.03, 0.98) were protective factors whereas long work experience (AOR=1.47; 95%CI: 1.13-1.93) was a risk factor for the exposure.Conclusions: Exposures to blood and body fluids during patient care were common among health care workers in the study area. Therefore, health care workers especially those newly hired and working in hospitals should pay due attention to their occupation's safety and regularly practice hand washing during critical times.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document