Nurses' Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Regarding Infection Control in Operating Rooms in Port Said Hospitals

Abstract

Background: Nosocomial infections (NI) occur worldwide, affecting both developed and poor countries and rank as a major killer of patients of all ages. Aim:the aimof Study was to assess the nurses' knowledge, attitude and practice regarding infection control in operating rooms in Port Said HospitalsSubject and Methods:the research Design: a descriptive correlation study design was used in hospitals of three different health care sector (general, private and health insurance) in Port Said city.Sample : Tools and Procedure: Data were collected using three tools. The first tool, a questionnaire sheet, composed of two parts; first part includes personal and job characteristics, second part covers the nurses' knowledge about infection control in operating rooms. The second tool includes the nurses' attitudes scale about infection control in operating rooms. The third tool is an observation checklist to evaluate the nurses’ practice regarding hospital infection. Results: The study results revealed that most of the studied nurses had satisfactory knowledge (80%), while most of them had unacceptable attitude (70%).  As regard their practice, about half of them (52%) had inadequate practice regarding infection control. Conclusion: it can be concluded from the present study that studied nurses had satisfactory knowledge, unacceptable attitude and about half of them had inadequate practice regarding infection control in operating rooms. Recommendations: continuous training programs, conferences and seminars about infection control are needed to improve nurses' knowledge that can be translated into good practices and positive attitudes.