In-services Education Program for Improving Nurses' Performance Regarding Infection Control Measures in a Rural Hospital

Abstract

increases morbidity and mortality among the hospitalized patients and surges an additional cost.Rural nurses have a paramount role in preventing infection and providing high quality of patientcare. Aim: This study existed to assess the effectiveness of an in-service education program forimproving nurses' performance concerning the application of infection control measures in ruralhospitals. Setting: This study was conducted in a selected government rural hospital in FayoumGovernorate, Egypt. Sample: A purposive sample of 100 nurses working in the rural hospital wereincluded. Tools: A structured interview guide was used to assess nurses’ level of knowledge, and anobservation checklist to assess their performance level before and after program implementation.Results: Nearly half of nurses had correct performance concerning infection control pre-programand improved to around 88.0% post-program implementation. There were statistically significantdifferences between nurse's total knowledge scales and subscales in pre and post-program.Likewise, there were highly statistically significant differences associated with nurses' correctperformance score level pre and post-program. Conclusion: In-service education interventionreported incredible improvement in nurses' knowledge and performance toward infection controlmeasures in the rural hospital. Recommendations: There is a desire for endless training courses fornurses to validate nurses’ knowledge, performance regarding utilization of standard safeguards ofinfection control in the rural hospital. Finally, at the community level, the government has toconsider the distribution of continuous education programs to expand all health services andresources in rural areas.