EXPLORING THE KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES OF AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL STUDENTS REGARDING INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL IN HOSPITALS: A PILOT STUDY

Objective: To assess the knowledge and practice of medical students regarding standard precautions in an Australian undergraduate medical programme. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: University of New South Wales, Australia, duration of study was six-years. Methodology: Fifty medical students who were involved in clinical practice, were invited to complete a comprehensive questionnaire on standard precautions. Results: The majority of participants agreed that hand hygiene was the most important factor in infection control. Only 32 (16%) knew to use a full personal protective equipment for Ebola. Regarding sharps disposal, 46 (92%) students always disposed used needles in the recommended bin, 27 (54%) indicated they sometimes recapped used needle while 25 (20%) sometimes bent used needles. Conclusion: This study showed that there is a gap between knowledge and practice of medical students regarding hand hygiene and other infection control measures. There is a need for standardized and regular student training in the use of standard precautions in infection prevention and control.

Cumprimento das medidas de precauções-padrão por profissionais de saúde: comparação entre dois hospitais

Objective: To assess compliance with standard precautions by health professionals in two hospitals.Method: This is a descriptive study, with a quantitative approach, conducted in two hospitals in the State of Rio de Janeiro. The sample is composed of health professionals who work in health care. Study developed in the period between February 2019 and February 2020. In order to collect data, the we used: 1- Individual and professional information form; 2- Brazilian Portuguese version of the Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and hypothesis tests.Results: The study was attended by 366 (100.0%) health professionals. The overall score of compliance with standard precautions was 13.4 (66.8%), ranging from 4 to 20. As for the average of the scores between the institutions, the professionals from hospital 1 had an average of 12.6 and those from hospital 2 showed a compliance of 13.6.Conclusions: Compliance with standard precautions among health professionals did not happen in its entirety Objetivo: Evaluar el cumplimiento de las precauciones estándar por parte de los profesionales de la salud en dos hospitales.Método: Se trata de un estudio descriptivo, con abordaje cuantitativo, realizado en dos hospitales del Estado de Rio de Janeiro. La muestra está compuesta por profesionales de la salud que trabajan en la asistencia. Estudio desarrollado en el período comprendido entre febrero de 2019 y febrero de 2020. Para la recolección de datos se utilizó lo siguiente: 1- Formulario de información individual y profesional; 2- Versión en portugués brasileño de la Escala de Cumplimiento de Precauciones Estándar. Los datos se analizaron mediante estadística descriptiva y pruebas de hipótesis.Resultados: El estudio incluyó a 366 (100,0%) profesionales de la salud. La puntuación global de cumplimiento de las precauciones estándar fue de 13,4 (66,8%), con un rango de 4 a 20. En cuanto a la media de las puntuaciones entre las instituciones, los profesionales del hospital 1 tuvieron una media de 12,6 y el hospital 2 mostró un cumplimiento de 13,6.Conclusiones: El cumplimiento de las precauciones estándar entre los profesionales de la salud no se produjo en su totalidad. Objetivo: Avaliar o cumprimento às precauções-padrão por profissionais de saúde de dois hospitais. Método: Trata-se de um estudo descritivo, de abordagem quantitativa, realizado em dois hospitais do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. A amostra é composta por profissionais de saúde que atuam na assistência. Estudo desenvolvido no período entre fevereiro de 2019 até fevereiro de 2020. Para a coleta de dados foram utilizados: 1- Formulário de informações individuais e profissionais; 2- Versão para o Português do Brasil da Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale. Os dados foram analisados utilizando estatística descritiva e testes de hipótese. Resultados: Participaram do estudo 366 (100,0%) profissionais de saúde. O escore geral de cumprimento das precauções-padrão foi de 13,4 (66,8%) variando entre 4 e 20. Quanto a média dos escores entre as instituições, os profissionais do hospital 1 obtiveram uma média de 12,6 e o hospital 2 apresentou 13,6 de cumprimento.Conclusões: O cumprimento às precauções-padrão entre profissionais de saúde não aconteceu em sua totalidade.

Standard precautions for preventing Tuberculosis and HIV: Compliance of Eswatini university student nurses

Tuberculosis and Human Immunodeficiency Virus are among the top ten causes of death globally. To prevent the spread of these infections, health workers and student nurses should comply to infection prevention and control measures called standard precautions. The aim of this study is to assess compliance of Eswatini university student nurses regarding standard precautions for preventing Tuberculosis and Human Immunodeficiency Virus. A non-experimental quantitative approach was used to conduct a survey on all senior student nurses of Eswatini University using questionnaires. IBM SPSS Statistics version 26 software was used to analyse the data. Results from this study showed that out of the 105 student nurses who were asked only 51.4% (n = 54) said they always used personal protective equipment. However, they did comply well on disposing sharps as 92.4% (n = 97) reported that they always used designated containers. There is a need for close supervision of student nurses in the clinical area. The researcher recommends that clinical facilitator should always accompany student nurses in the clinical area and that preceptors should be exempted from other nursing duties when there are student nurses in the hospitals so that they can mentor the students.

Standard Precautions among HealthCare Workers in a Tertiary Health Facility in Enugu Metropolis, South-East Nigeria

BackgroundThe work environment of Health Care Workers (HCWs) can be described as a potential risk zone due to numerous hazards endemic to the environment. The hospital is not just only a place where the sick people recover from their illness, but also where the healthy get infected.ObjectivesTo assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of Standard Precautions (SP) among HCWs in a tertiary government health facility in Enugu Metropolis, Nigeria.MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional design that used mixed method approach. Qualitative data was collected using an in-depth interview. The quantitative data instrument was a semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire. Manual content analysis was done for the qualitative data. Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS version 22.ResultsSixty-four (32.0%), 131(65.5%) and 5(2.5%) had good, fair and poor knowledge of SP respectively while 117(58.5%), 70(35.0%) and 13(6.5%) had good, fair and poor attitude to SP respectively. Fifty-nine (29.5%), 140(70.0%) and 1(0.5%) had good, fair and poor practice of SP respectively.ConclusionThere was fair knowledge and practice of SP among the studied HCWs while attitude was good.Rwanda J Med Health Sci 2021;4(3):366-378

Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Healthcare Providers Regarding Infection Control at Tertiary Care Hospital

Background: Nosocomial infections are the major cause of high morbidity and mortality in developing countries like Pakistan. Standard precautions; based on good self-care practices, adequate knowledge and positive attitude can decrease the consequences of nosocomial infections. Objective: The objective of the study is to know about the knowledge, attitudes and practices of health care providers regarding infection control in Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar. Method: This was descriptive cross-sectional study conducted at Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar. In the health care providers we included doctors, nurses, pathologists and paramedics. Convenient sampling technique was used. After taking informed consent, the adopted questionnaires were filled from participants regarding knowledge, attitudes and practices about infection control. Results: Out of total 88 health-care workers, 44.3 % were male and 55.7% were females. On average, 83% of the participants are knowledgeable about the mode of transmission of infectious diseases while 96.6% of the participants responded that transmission based precautions help in infection control however, 98.9% of the respondents say PPE and following of standard precautions play a vital role in infection control. On average, 56% of health care workers say that there is a lack of PPE and 92% of HCWs wash their hands before and after the procedure. The overall use of PPE was 80.7 % however 75 % of the HCWs did the practice of recapping the needles after using. Conclusion: The overall knowledge, attitude and practices of the responding health care providers were good. Keywords: Knowledge; Attitude; Practices; Nosocomial infection

The Relationship between the Fear, the Perceived Risk of COVID-19 and Compliance with Standard Precautions of Nurses

Aim: it was aimed to examine the correlation between the fear of COVID-19 and the perceived risk of COVID-19 and compliance with standard precautions of nurses working in pandemic clinics. Materials and Methods: The study conducted in a cross-sectional research design. The sample consists of 194 participants who worked in COVID-19 clinics between November 2020 - January 2021 in an Education and Research Hospital in Ankara, and met the inclusion criteria. Data collection form consisted of the Introductory Information Form (18 questions), the The Fear of COVID-19 Scale (7 items), the Perceived COVID-19 Risk Scale (8 items) and the Standard Precautions Scale (20 items). The data were collected by considering the pandemic conditions, using an online questionnaire. Mann Whitney U Test and Kruskal Wallis Variance Analysis were used to compare continuous data. Spearman Correlation Analysis was used to determine the correlation between the scales’ scores. Results: The mean age of the participants was 29.01 ± 6.73. Participants’ mean scores were on the The Fear of COVID-19 Scale, Perceived COVID-19 Risk Scale, and Standard Precautions Scale were 19.83 ± 6.36, 29.89 ± 5, and 14.05 ± 2.81, respectively. It was determined that there was a moderate and positive significant correlation between the The Fear of COVID-19 Scale mean scores of the participants and the Perceived COVID-19 Risk Scale (r = 0.619; p = 0.001). There was no statistically significant correlation between the mean scores of the Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale and the mean scores of the The Fear of COVID-19 Scale and Perceived COVID-19 Risk Scale (p>0.05). Conclusion: In line with the results obtained in the study, it was determined that the nurses’ fear of COVID-19 and the perceived risk of COVID-19 were above average. However, it was revealed that fear of COVID-19 and perceived risk were not related to Compliance with Standard Precautions.

INFECTION CONTROL: STANDARD PRECAUTION MEASURES KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE OF MEDICAL DOCTORS AND NURSES IN SUDAN

Background and objectives: The emergence of life-threatening infections has highlighted the need for effective infection control programs in all health care settings. These programs are used to support hospitals in reducing the risk of healthcare-associated infection or nosocomial infection, and this study describes the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of standard infection control precautions among Health Care Workers in 3 teaching hospitals in Sudan. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between March and August 2018 among healthcare workers in 3 teaching hospitals: Omdurman Teaching Hospital, Khartoum Bahri Teaching Hospital and Khartoum Teaching Hospital in Sudan. Data for 254 nurses and 283 working physicians were collected via a self-structured questionnaire to assess the KAP core components of standard precautions. The percentage of professional knowledge and practice scores was calculated and occupational differences in the average professional knowledge and practice scores were ascertained. Result: A total of 429 out of 537 participating healthcare workers completed the questionnaire with a response rate of (79.9%), of whom (52.9%) were physicians and (47.1%) were nurses. (39.6%) of doctors and (53.5%) of nurses have a good level of knowledge, about (96%) of doctors and (97%) of nurses wash their hands after handling any bodily fluids, and this indicates that nearly And the doctors have a similar level of practice as well as a positive attitude. (91.1%) of doctors and (85.6%) of nurses think that they can be the source of transmission. Conclusion: Based on the findings of our study, the majority of nurses had good knowledge compared to fair knowledge physicians, with positive attitudes and practices of both physicians and nurses towards the infection control program. Policies that promote training of health care workers in standard precautions and ensure that infection control and prevention resources in health facilities are regularly provided are required in Sudan. Peer Review History: Received: 7 September 2021; Revised: 9 October; Accepted: 28 October, Available online: 15 November 2021 Academic Editor: Dr. A.A. Mgbahurike, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, [email protected] UJPR follows the most transparent and toughest ‘Advanced OPEN peer review’ system. The identity of the authors and, reviewers will be known to each other. This transparent process will help to eradicate any possible malicious/purposeful interference by any person (publishing staff, reviewer, editor, author, etc) during peer review. As a result of this unique system, all reviewers will get their due recognition and respect, once their names are published in the papers. We expect that, by publishing peer review reports with published papers, will be helpful to many authors for drafting their article according to the specifications. Auhors will remove any error of their article and they will improve their article(s) according to the previous reports displayed with published article(s). The main purpose of it is ‘to improve the quality of a candidate manuscript’. Our reviewers check the ‘strength and weakness of a manuscript honestly’. There will increase in the perfection, and transparency. Received file: Reviewer's Comments: Average Peer review marks at initial stage: 6.0/10 Average Peer review marks at publication stage: 7.0/10 Reviewers: Prof. Dr. Hassan A.H. Al-Shamahy, Sana'a University, Yemen, [email protected] Dr. Bilge Ahsen KARA, Ankara Gazi Mustafa Kemal Hospital, Turkey, [email protected] Dr. A.A. Mgbahurike, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, [email protected] Similar Articles: SURVEY OF SAFETY PRACTICES IN DIARRHEAL TREATMENT CENTERS: CHOLERA TREATMENT CENTERS IN YEMEN PREVALENCE OF CYTOMEGALOVIRUS IGG ANTIBODIES, POTENTIAL RISK FACTORS AND AWARENESS OF CONGENITAL CYTOMEGALOVIRUS AMONG FEMALE DOCTORS