Nurses' Knowledge, Practice, and Attitudes in Preventing Healthcare-associated Infections in a Tertiary Hospital in Gambia

Abstract

Aim: To determine the knowledge, practices and attitudes of nurses working in a tertiary hospital in the Gambia regarding the prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted as a descriptive and cross-sectional design. A descriptive research design was conducted in a tertiary hospital in the Gambia. The population of this study was 441 nurses. The sample was calculated as 205 nurses using the sampling method whose population is known. The study data were collected using web-based surveys that are structured personal information form and the scale for knowledge, practice and attitude of nurses in infection prevention and control by the researcher. Data from this study were analyzed using, the Mann–Whitney U test, the post hoc test, the Kruskal-Wallis H test, and the Spear-Men test. Results: The most of the nurses (60%) are female, almost half of them (48.3%) are 18-27 years old, and almost all of them (96.1%) are Gambian. It was found that nurses' knowledge, practice, and attitude scale total score mean in preventing and controlling healthcare-associated infections was 197.21. It was determined that the highest overall mean score (84.57) from the application, followed by knowledge (71.34) and the lowest attitude (41.30) score. Conclusion: The level of knowledge and practice of nurses about preventing healthcare associated infections is at a good level. It is recommended that in-service education be planned to develop positive attitudes since the lowest score for prevention and control of the infection is in the attitude scale sub-dimension of nurses.

Keywords

• Infection
• knowledge
• nurse
• practice
• prevention

Gambiya'daki Bir Üçüncü Basamak Hastanede Sağlık Bakım İlişkili Enfeksiyonların Önlenmesinde Hemşirelerin Bilgi, Uygulama ve Tutumları

Abstract

Amaç: Gambiya'da üçüncü basamak bir hastanede çalışan hemşirelerin, sağlık bakım ilişkili enfeksiyonları önleme ve kontrol etme konusundaki bilgi, uygulama ve tutumlarını belirlemektir. Gereç ve Yöntem: Araştırma tanımlayıcı ve kesitsel desende yürütülmüştür. Çalışmanın evrenini, 441 hemşire oluşturmaktadır. Örneklem, evreni bilinen örnekleme yöntemini kullanarak 205 hemşire olarak hesaplanmıştır. Araştırmanın verileri, araştırmacı tarafından yapılandırılmış kişisel bilgi formu ve hemşirelerin sağlık bakım ilişkili enfeksiyonu önleme ve kontrolünde bilgi, uygulama ve tutum ölçeği ile çevrimiçi google form kullanılarak toplanmıştır. Çalışmanın verileri, Mann–Whitney U testi, post hoc testi, Kruskal-Wallis H testi ve Spear-men testi kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Bulgular: Hemşirelerin çoğunluğu (%60) kadın, yaklaşık yarısı (%48.3) 18-27 yaş aralığında ve tamamına yakını (%96.1) Gambiyalı’dır. Hemşirelerin sağlık bakım ilişkili enfeksiyonu önleme ve kontrol etmede bilgi, uygulama ve tutum ölçek toplam puan ortalamasının 197.21 olduğu belirlendi. Hemşirelerin en yüksek ortalama puanı (84,57) uygulama, en düşük ortalama puanı (41,30) ise tutum alt boyutundan aldıkları belirlendi (p<0.05). Sonuç: Hemşirelerin sağlık bakım ilişkili enfeksiyonunu önleme ve kontrol etme konusundaki bilgi ve uygulamaları iyi düzeydedir. En düşük puan tutum ölçeği alt boyutunda olduğu için konuya ilişkin olumlu tutum geliştirmeye yönelik hizmet içi eğitimlerin planlanması önerilmektedir.

Keywords

• Bilgi
• enfeksiyon
• hemşire
• önleme
• uygulama

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