Level of Knowledge, Attitudes and Skills as for Hospital-Acquired Infections in Health Care Staff of a Low and a High-Complexity Hospital in Antioquia

Abstract

Introduction. According to the World Health Organization, nosocomial infection rate in institutions from developing countries could exceed 25%; in Colombia, in 2012 these represented 4.7% of the causes of death according to the Health Secretariat of Bogotá The Ministry of Health has identified Antioquia as the department with the highest rate of Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI). Objective. To assess the level of knowledge, attitudes and skills in HAIs by the healthcare staff of a low and a high complexity hospital in Antioquia. Methodology. Cross-sectional descriptive study, 66 participants thereof including physicians, nursing assistants and emergency and hospitalization nurses. 90% confidence interval. Inclusion criteria: at least three months working in the hospital, under all types of contracts. Exclusion: staff not accepting participation and assistance staff with administrative functions. An instrument with closed questions on knowledge, attitudes and skills in HAIs was applied. Results. Nursing staff had the highest level in knowledge, nursing assistants in practice and physicians had the lowest score with 24%. As for attitudes, staff at both hospitals identified the activities associated with health care as important, but routinary. Discussion. The knowledge component stands as the greatest issue for this population, more specifically the hand washing topic, with physicians recording the greater number of scores below 60%. Conclusions. The study suggests that practitioners in both hospitals, regardless of their professional duties, have a better practical than theoretical basis; attitude does not seem to be related to the other variables.