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Running head: RESEARCH PAPER 1
RESEARCH PAPER 15
Assessment of the knowledge, practice, and the associated factors of Healthcare Acquired Infection Prevention
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Date
Table of Contents
Table of Contents 2 Assessment of the knowledge, practice, and the associated factors of Healthcare Acquired Infection Prevention in Blessings Healthcare Facility 4 The Problem 5 Significance of the problem 6 Purpose of this study 7 Research Questions 8 Masters Essentials aligned with the topic 8 Design 10 Literature Review 10 Methodology and the design of the study 13 Sampling Methods 14 Necessary tools 14 Any logarithm or flow map developed 15 Healthcare Facility 15 Implementation 15 Stage 1: Assessment of the current practices (One Week) 16 Stage 2: Identification of the factors leading to high cases of healthcare-acquired infection (5 days) 17 Stage 3: Pre-Training (Two Weeks) 17 Stage 4: Training (5 weeks) 17 Stage 5: an ongoing process of assessing the situation 18 Materials, activities and the cost 20 Results 21 Socio-demographics features of the research population 21 Knowledge concerning the infection prevention 23 Aspects related to the knowledge of the healthcare professionals regarding the issue of preventing healthcare-acquired infections 27 Limitation of the study 28 References 30
Assessment of the knowledge, practice, and the associated factors of Healthcare Acquired Infection Prevention
Healthcare acquired infection/nosocomial infection/hospital acquired infections are becoming a major international challenge in many healthcare facilities especially in the low or middle income nations. It is anticipated that around 10 percent of patients in the healthcare facilities from developing nations are developing healthcare acquired infections and this subsequently leads to negative impacts on healthcare outcomes. It also leads to increase hospital stay, economic burden, morbidity cases, and increase in the mortality incidences. Some of the common healthcare acquired infections include Hepatitis B and C virus, HIV infections, and even Tuberculosis which are often transmitted by healthcare workers who are not observing the practice related to the infection prevention measures.
According to the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there are about 1.7 million patients who have been hospitalized as a result of acquiring infection within the facilities while undergoing treatment for other healthcare concerns. Many studies reveal that simple infection control procedures like cleaning of the hands using alcohol-based hand rub is helping in the prevention of the spread of the disease. The increase in the infection rate caused by the healthcare acquired infection is due to the poor practices of infection prevention and control, lack of knowledge or failure to implement knowledge related to the process of preventing and controlling nosocomial illnesses, and other associated factors (Desta, Ayenew, Sitotaw, Tegegne, Dires, & Getie, 2018).
The Problem
The high burden of nosocomial infections is as a result of the absent of the standardized infection control prevention program in place. The main reason why there is absence of standardized infection prevention procedures is as a result of inadequate resources, improper sanitary situation and the poor hygienic practices. Healthcare infections which were absence at time when a patient is being admitted are acquired by patients during the process of healthcare services within the hospital. Healthcare providers are considered to be in the front line with regard to the process of ensuring that there is self protection as well as making sure that patients are free from infections (Haque, Sartelli, McKimm, & Bakar, 2018).
The process of preventing infection prevention is involving and it involves the placing of major barriers between the vulnerable hosts and the pathogens as well as some of the major components of the safe and improved quality of services being delivered at the healthcare facility level. Therefore, healthcare acquired infections related mortality and morbidity can be prevented through having an effective prevention program such as proper hand hygiene. The process of implementing the standard precautions such as safety injections, isolations precautions, bathing among patients, antibiotic use or stewardship, vaccinations, environmental cleaning, disinfections, and the sterilization process through successful comprehensive departmental based safety program as well as surveillance are important steps which can be relied on for the purposes of control and prevention of the infections.
In resource constraint facilities, it is becoming hard to control infections rates of clients who are acquiring healthcare infections as well as the exposure of healthcare workers to such infections. There are some of simple standard precaution procedures as well as improved knowledge which have been found to be important when it comes to the reduction of the infections. Even though there is existence of such evidences in relation to availability of the level of awareness and practices in preventing infections and the associated aspects, there are reduced cases of exploiting such knowledge, practices, and the associated factors many healthcare facilities.
Significance of the problem
Low-cost intervention processes are available to help in preventing or controlling the cases of nosocomial infections. Majority of healthcare knowledge as well as adherence to the infection prevention is still very minimal. This therefore implies that improvement of knowledge as well as practice of healthcare employees with regard to the prevention of infection is important when it comes to the reduction of the burden caused by the healthcare acquired infections. The outcomes of this research work will be important as an contribution for the policy makers, programmers, and healthcare employees towards improvement of the clinical services and the means of achieving sustainable development objectives.
Identification of this problem is also important when it comes to the reduction of the mortality cases. The study of this problem is helping in the generation of the meaningful data with regard to the practices, knowledge, and other associated factors of healthcare acquired infections. This is important in processing the measuring the outcome of the patient safety practices. Through monitoring the process and the outcome measures as well as the evaluation of the existing relationship is important in establishing the good process which results in good health care outcomes.
Through identification of the problem related to the knowledge, practices and the associated factors in healthcare acquired infections, it is possible to have an effective process measure which is giving a reflection of the common practices which can be applied in healthcare setting. It enables the facility to make a selection of the outcome measures related to the occurrence, harshness, and the preventability of the outcome proceedings. It is estimated that over 1.7 million patients are suffering from the nosocomial infections in the United States. The overall direct cost of infections to healthcare facility is ranging between $ 28 billion to $ 45 billion.
Even though this range appears to be wider, healthcare acquired infections seem to be expensive. Additionally, some of these diseases are preventable; nevertheless, few healthcare facilities are still faced with the problem of controlling the issue. Therefore, identification of the gap with regard to the control of healthcare acquired infections is important in reducing its rate thus helping the nation and healthcare facilities to reduce the expenditures on treatment of the patients with nosocomial infections. The increased expenditure by the clients or the government is also associated with longer stay in the hospital due to the re-infection (Stone, 2017).
Purpose of this study
This study is therefore aimed at investigating the knowledge as well as the routine practices aimed at preventing of the hospital associated infection and its associated factors of preventing infection amongst healthcare providers. The outcome of this study is important towards development and implementation of the policies to help in addressing the existing gaps that is present in addressing issues of hospital associated infections.
Research Questions
This study will be guided by the following questions to help in meeting the objectives or the purpose of the study. These questions include:
· What are some of the prevention practices in place to help in the control of healthcare acquired infections?
· What is the knowledge of the healthcare providers with regard to the prevention and control of healthcare acquired infections?
· What are the associated factors with the knowledge of healthcare providers regarding the infection prevention?
Masters Essentials aligned with the topic
One of the most important essential with regard to the process of preventing nosocomial infections is the quality improvement and safety. Improvement in the quality of healthcare services as well as safety of the patients is an ongoing process within every department of the hospitals. It is important for the mastered prepared nurse to have the ability of articulating the techniques, equipment, the performance of measures, culture of the safety values, and the standards related to quality, and should be prepared to use quality principles in the organization. It also requires nurses to be an agent of change. The issues of hospital associated infections are becoming a major concern in many healthcare facilities. In order to overcome the challenges faced in ensuring that there is minimization of nosocomial infections, joint effort is required from both healthcare providers particularly nurses who are continuously interacting directly with the nurses to help in the reduction of the issue. Joint forces are needed to have a change in the practice as well as share the knowledge needed to help in reducing healthcare acquired infections.
Another important essential is the health policy and advocacy. There is a continuous change in the healthcare sector and this is influenced by the technological, economic, political, and the social-cultural aspects. Graduate master’s degree nursing program is having a requisite knowledge as well as skills needed towards promotion of health, helping in shaping the healthcare delivery, and the advancement of the values such as social justice through processing of policies processes and advocacy. As advocates, it is the responsibility of healthcare providers such as nurses to ensure that there is a change in the way through which the issue nosocomial infections is dealt with. Nurses and other healthcare providers need to look for alternative approaches through advocating for the new policies and incorporate them into healthcare system within the organization. Nurses have to be responsible towards making an improvement to the quality of healthcare delivery through understanding the political determinants of the system as well as using the knowledge learned in the class work to advocate for the change in the healthcare provision policies related to the prevention of hospital associated infections.
Collaboration towards making an improvement to the patients and population healthcare outcomes is another important essential. Healthcare providers must work together towards ensuring that the implementation processes of the new policies related to the prevention of infection is achieved.
Design
Literature Review
Healthcare acquired infections constitute a major public health issue and it is affecting millions of people on a yearly basis. The approximation from the recent studies is showing more than 5 percent of the hospitalized patients are exposed to nosocomial infections. Many studies further shows that the surgical site infections are the common infections associated with nosocomial infections and it is contributing to about 30 percent of all healthcare acquired infections cases.
Study by Ayed et al (2015) shows that healthcare providers are continuously exposed to pathogens which are sometimes severe and lethal. Nurses specifically are more exposed to different infections during the course of providing healthcare services to the patients. This study indicates that it is therefore crucial for nurses to possess sound knowledge as well as strict adherence to the infection control practices. Updating the acquaintance and the practices of nurses through involvement in ongoing in-service educational programs and putting more focus on the role of the current evidence-based practices of infection prevention in the continuous training is important. Provision of the training to the newly recruited nurses regarding the infection control frequently as well as replicating the study through observation checklist is necessary in assessing the level of practice (Imad, Ayed, Faeda, & Lubna, 2015).
Study by Desta et al (2018) reveals that working experience is a stronger predictor of the knowledge in relation to the prevention of the infection. In this study, the goal was to the relationship between the acquaintance, practice and connected aspects of infection prevention among healthcare employees. Education level is a key determinant to the level of experience when it comes to the control or the prevention of infections. According to this study, it is clear that healthcare providers with advanced experience as well as advanced age are significantly linked with the knowledge. This is basically based on the fact that as healthcare providers are getting older, they are more likely to have advance knowledge due to their experiences as well as having worked with their seniors (Desta, Ayenew, Sitotaw, Tegegne, Dires, & Getie, 2018).
Teshager et al (2015) also studies the knowledge, practices, and the related aspects towards the reduction or prevention of the surgical site infections among nurses who were employed in Amhara Regional State Referral healthcare facilities, in the Northwest Ethiopia. This study looked at some of the factors linked with the knowledge of the nurses regarding the prevention of the surgical site infections. Based on the bivariate analysis of this study, the age, year of service, sex of the participants, and training on the infection prevention techniques were found to be the key factors associated with the knowledge on the prevention of infections. On the other hand, the year of service, sex, and the training on the infection prevention were found to be greatly linked to the multivariate assessment (Teshager, Engeda, & Worku, 2015).
Based on the outcome of the analysis, males nurses are three time more likely to be knowledgeable on the prevention of the surgical site infections as compared to the female counterparts. Nurses who have served for more than five years were twice more likely to be knowledgeable on the issue of infection prevention as compared to the healthcare employees who have worked for less than five years. Nurses who have been involved in the training program related to the prevention of the infection techniques were twice more likely to be knowledgeable regarding the prevention of the surgical site infections as compared to nurses who have never attended such trainings.
Human are playing an important role in healthcare acquired infections and therefore adequate nurse staffing is important. Batran et al (2018) in their study on whether the standard precautions for healthcare acquired infection among nurses working in the public sector is satisfactory indicates that compliance to the standard precautions by the healthcare providers is related to their knowledge, the standards precaution training, and the experiences they are having. Standards precautions are used as guideline while offering healthcare services to the patients in spite of the supposed infection status. According to this study, the standard precautions are targeted at reducing the transmission of the healthcare acquired infections as well as protecting the nurses and other healthcare providers from the sharp injuries (Batran, Ayed, Salameh, Ayoub, & Fasfous, 2018).
Jahangir et al (2017) aimed at assessing the knowledge and the practices of the nurses in relation to the spreading of the healthcare acquired infections within the government healthcare facilities in Lahore. Based on this study, it was evident that nurses are having knowledge regarding the spread of nosocomial infections. They are also well informed regarding the safety precautions and the use of alcohol based formulation. Nevertheless, their practices towards reduction of the spread of the hospital associated infections are at unsatisfactory level. This study also reveals that nurses are more exposed to acquiring and transmitting hospital associated infections as they provide nursing care to the patients. It is therefore recommended that nurses must have adequate knowledge as well as the practice towards controlling and preventing the spread of nosocomial infections (Jahangir, Ali, & Riaz, 2017).
Using standardized precautions to help in the prevention of patient from acquiring nosocomial infections is an important part of the nursing care. Study by Moyo (2013), reveals that many nurses are more concerned about their lives as compared to the patients since they are handling different patients from ward to ward. Alternatively, Ventilator patients are more exposed to the healthcare acquired infections whereby the contaminated equipment can be a source of those infections. Nurses who are delivering healthcare services to these patients are also at higher risk of acquiring illness from such equipment (Moyo, 2013).
Methodology and the design of the study
This study is an institutional based and it will therefore be done from May 25, 2019 to June 25, 2019. Healthcare providers having qualification of doctors, health officers, nurses, midwives, x-ray technicians, pharmacists, and the laboratory technicians will be selected for this study. Healthcare providers who are ill plus those who are on leave were never included in the study.
Self-assessed questionnaire will be utilized to help in the collection of data through distribution at the healthcare workers. The self-administered questionnaire was modified CDC infection prevention and control assessment tool for the acute care healthcare facilities. The questionnaire was organized using English language and the pre-test was performed in the study area on 5 percent of healthcare workers and this was excluded from the actual study to help in evaluation of the content as well as the approach of the questionnaire and some necessary adjustment which were necessary to be made.
The analysis of the data will be based on summary of the proportions, frequencies, the average, the score on knowledge is dichotomized as 1 for being knowledgeable and 2 for not being knowledgeable. The practice score is dichotomized as 1 for good practice and 2 for poor practice.
Sampling Methods
A total of 250 participants will be selected as the population participants. The participants are the healthcare employees who are involved in the direct care of the patients for a period of four weeks in every ward. The systematic random sampling will be used to help in the identification of the study participants through using the list of healthcare employees posted in every ward in the facility as a sampling frame. The first selection of the participant will be based on random selection. The selection of the sample for the study is based on using healthcare providers who are doctors, nurses, midwives, laboratory technologists, pharmacists, and healthcare officers.
Necessary tools
One of the tools to be used in this study is the self-administered questionnaire to help in the collection of the data. This tool will be adapted from the modified Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the control assessment tool used for the acute care patients.
Any logarithm or flow map developed
Healthcare Facility
Implementation
| Task | Duration |
| Assessment of the current practices | 1 week |
| Identification of the factors leading to high cases of healthcare-acquired infection | 5 weeks |
| Pre-Training | Two weeks |
| Training | 5 weeks |
| Process of assessing the situation and communication with the key stakeholders | Ongoing process |
The implementation plan process of this research project is aimed at addressing issues related to the knowledge, practices, and other factors such as the socio-demographic factors, and the healthcare facility factors which are considered to be playing important roles towards the prevention of healthcare-acquired infections. The implementation process for the change implementation plan in reducing the healthcare-acquired infections requires adequate resources which will be necessary towards training the healthcare providers to have the required knowledge needed to improve their skills in relation to the prevention of the healthcare-acquired infections. Resources will also be important in ensuring that the required tools or equipment are purchased to help in ensuring that there effective control or preventive measures in place.
Some of the important tools or equipment which will be necessary to be purchased includes the gloves, hydrogen peroxide, alcohol disinfectant, sterilizer machine, and the alcohol hand disinfectant. Other resources or tools required include pens and notebooks which will be important when training the staffs on the safety measures in relation to the process of preventing healthcare-acquired infections. The implementation program towards the reduction of the healthcare-acquired infection will be based on stages.
Stage 1: Assessment of the current practices (One Week)
The first stage will be involving the process of assessing the current practices in place which are being used towards a reduction of the infection rates. This stage will also involve the assessment of the knowledge of the healthcare providers especially nurses regarding the techniques and the effective methods being used to help in the reduction of infections in the facility. The assessment will also involve looking at some of the steps which have been put in place to help in combating the incidences of the prevention rates within the facility. One week duration will be enough towards ensuring that there is a complete assessment of the areas which requires improvement.
Stage 2: Identification of the factors leading to high cases of healthcare-acquired infection (5 days)
The second stage will involve the identification of some of the factors which are contributing to the spread of the infection rate within the facility to help in the designing of the effective training approaches which meets the gaps within the facility in relation to the prevention of healthcare-acquired infections. This stage will be taking around 5 days for completion.
Stage 3: Pre-Training (Two Weeks)
The third stage of the implementation process the pre-training which will take about two weeks. This stage will involve the assessment of the tools and then scheduled for the training sessions (in-person training).
Stage 4: Training (5 weeks)
The fourth stage will involve the training process whereby there will be a performance of the in-person training sessions towards quality healthcare improvement. Training webinars will be checked in this stage. There will also be a collection of the baseline information; making completion of the implementation preparedness checklist. This stage will take around five weeks.
Stage 5: an ongoing process of assessing the situation
The next stage will be a continuous bi-weekly gathering to make a continuous assessment of the situation. There will be an updating of the action plans as well as the implementation of the checklist. The last stage will be involving a contours process whereby activities such as continuous weekly meeting will be important to help in determining the challenges being faced as well as the areas which are successful. In this stage, there will be the determination of the successful intervals for the healthcare providers. Frequent collection and analysis of the data regarding the practices towards preventing healthcare-acquired infections will be analyzed.
There will be a review of relevant supplementary learning network webinars. There will also be a pilot like interventions through the selection of specific departments or wards which are usually having a continuous flow of patients to help in giving a clear picture regarding the effectiveness of the program. There will be continuous training of the current and new as well as the assessment of the healthcare providers with regard to how they are being affected by socio-demographic factors i.e. age, marital status, religion, ethnicity, level of education, and the work experiences and health facility factors.
There will be assigned of the responsibilities to the staffs to help in improving the implementation process aimed at reducing healthcare-acquired infections. Each healthcare provider will be assigned the responsibility with a focus on the identification of the factors which might be further increasing the rate of healthcare-acquired infections other than those which have been identified to be the major contributors.
There will be continuous communication and giving reports in relation to the prevention processes. The prevention practices of healthcare-acquired infection are only developed through having a continuous operational procedure which is involving reporting the emerging issues and areas that requires improvement; therefore, through the existence of continuous communication process, it will be possible to deal with the issue of healthcare-acquired infections as a team. Regular assessment of the progress and creating a plan to keep the process of implementation of the targeted practices to other departments within the facility will be of great value.
Communication with the key stakeholders of the healthcare facility is another important step and this has to be an ongoing process. Stakeholders, in this case, are the individuals who are directly involved or are affected by the increasing incidences of the healthcare-acquired infections. The stakeholders include patients, healthcare providers; groups providing financial support to the hospital, and the hospital management among others. There will be continuous communication and consultation with the stakeholders to help in rolling out the program as well as expanding the process of building the sustainability of the program. Stakeholders will be important in providing feedback regarding the program aimed at addressing the existing gaps in addressing issues related to the prevention of healthcare-acquired infections. The stakeholders will be helping in identifying the areas which require some form of refinement as well as giving suggestions on the new approaches of initiatives which should be applied or adopted.
Continuous cooperation, as well as collaboration with patients, will be important in ensuring that there is a success in improving the process of addressing issues related to the prevention of healthcare-acquired infection. Patients are the highly exposed individuals to healthcare-acquired infection, therefore, an effective process of educating them on how to report and stick by the instruction of the healthcare providers especially those who are placed on an isolated room will be important in helping to reduce the exposure to healthcare-acquired infections such as tuberculosis. With regard to working together with the management of the healthcare facility, the success of the program will be achieved through support from the management. The top management is key stakeholders who are the individuals who are giving go ahead with the process of making an improvement to the issue of concern. Top management will be providing the financial support needed to purchase the materials required towards making the mission of healthcare-acquired infection prevention activities possible. It cannot be possible to make an improvement to the concerns related to the infection if the management is not fully engaged since the project is doom to fail due to a lack of full support.
Materials, activities and the cost
In order to meet the objective of full implementation of the program, it is important to have the required resources in place. These resources are the materials or the equipment which are supposed to be purchased to help in ensuring that every activity being undertaken such as the training of the staffs as well as engaging the key stakeholders i.e. healthcare providers, management, financial supporters, and the patients are effectively involved in the process of implementation. Therefore the materials and the activity of training and communicating with the stakeholders are categorized below based on the amount required to support each activity or purchase of the materials needed.
| Materials/ Activities | Costs |
| Gloves | $ 300 |
| Manila paper for designing the waste segregation protocol | $ 15 |
| More laboratory coats | $ 100 |
| Hydrogen Peroxide | $ 500 |
| Alcohol Disinfectant | $ 300 |
| Sterilizer Machine | $ 800 |
| Alcohol Hand Disinfectant | $ 100 |
| Pens and Notebooks | $ 150 |
| Construction of the isolation room | $ 5000 |
| Training of healthcare providers | $ 3000 |
| Communication with the stakeholders | $ 800 |
| Miscellaneous | $ 2000 |
| Total | $ 13,065 |
Results
Socio-demographics features of the research population
Infection prevention is amongst the challenges faced in many healthcare institutions in the entire world. This study assessed the knowledge, practice, and associated factors aimed at reducing or preventing healthcare-acquired infections among healthcare workers. In this particular study, a total of 250 healthcare professionals were interviewed and yields a response rate of 95 percent majorities. There were many individuals i.e. 150 (60 percent) were in the age bracket of 26 to 3o years old. The majority of the respondents were from Orthodox Christianity at 72 percent of the population. A higher percentage of the individuals who participated in this study was diploma holders at 40 percent (100 participants).
Overall, based on this particular study, it is clear that the majority of healthcare providers were knowledgeable about the prevention of healthcare-acquired infections. Many of these healthcare providers were having sufficient knowledge required to make a contribution towards helping in reducing healthcare-acquired infections. This study, therefore, shows that the outcomes are in line with many other research works which have shown that healthcare providers are knowledgeable enough to help in the prevention of infection; nevertheless, the issue of controlling or preventing such infection is affected by the attitudes or the socio-demographic factors or lack of adequate resources to accomplish this mission.
.
| Variable | Frequency | Percentage | |
| Age | 20 to 25 | 80 | 32% |
| 26 to 30 | 150 | 60% | |
| Over 31 years | 20 | 8% | |
| Sex | Male | 150 | 60% |
| Female | 100 | 40% | |
| Marital Status | Single | 140 | 56 % |
| Married | 110 | 44% | |
| Religion | Muslim | 30 | 12% |
| Orthodox | 180 | 72% | |
| Protestant | 40 | 16% | |
| Educational Status | Master and Above | 80 | 32 % |
| Bachelors | 70 | 28 % | |
| Diploma | 100 | 40 % | |
| Work Experience | Over five years | 170 | 68% |
| 5 to 10 years | 70 | 28% | |
| Over 10 years | 10 | 4% | |
| Profession | Physician | 30 | 12% |
| Nurse | 82 | 32.8% | |
| Midwifery | 60 | 24% | |
| Health officials | 18 | 7.2% | |
| Laboratory Technician | 40 | 16% | |
| Other healthcare providers | 20 | 8% | |
| Involved in the training | Yes | 90 | 36% |
| No | 160 | 64% | |
| There is availability of IP guideline | Yes | 100 | 40% |
| No | 150 | 60% |
Knowledge concerning the infection prevention
In this particular study, a total of 220 (88 percent) and 210 (84 percent) believed that healthcare-acquired infections are prevented using disinfection and antiseptic respectively. A total of 190 respondents (76 percent) believed that equipment requires the process of decontamination prior to the sterilization procedure. More than half of the participants (56 percent) are not well informed regarding the [preparation of 0.5 percent of chlorine solution.
| Variables | The level of knowledge | Frequency | |
| Disinfection is helpful in the prevention of the acquired infections | Ye | 220 | 88 % |
| No | 30 | 12% | |
| Antiseptic is helping in the prevention of healthcare-acquired infection | Yes | 210 | 84% |
| No | 40 | 16% | |
| The is sterilization of the equipment using chemical | Yes | 100 | 40% |
| No | 150 | 60 % | |
| There is physical sterilization of equipment through the use of heat and radiation occasionally | Yes | 70 | 28 % |
| No | 180 | 72% | |
| All pathogens are destroyed through autoclaving | Yes | 170 | 68% |
| No | 80 | 32% | |
| There is a decontamination of equipment before the sterilization process | Yes | 190 | 76% |
| No | 60 | 24% | |
| Protective devices are important when it comes to the reduction of the infections | Yes | 185 | 74% |
| No | 65 | 26% | |
| Wearing of gloves is used as a replacement of hand washing | Yes | 90 | 64% |
| No | 160 | 36% | |
| There is a preparation of o.5 percent chlorine solution | Yes | 110 | 44% |
| No | 140 | 56% | |
| There is the use of PEP for HIV after being exposed to blood | Yes | 230 | 92% |
| No | 20 | 8% |
The practice of healthcare providers in an effort to prevent healthcare-acquired infections
In this particular study, the percentages of the healthcare providers believed it was important to wash hand before starting to provide healthcare and after completion of healthcare provision were 140 (56 percent) and 200 (80 percent) respectively. There was almost equal proportional with regard to the number of respondents who said there is use of soap to wash the hands before patient care i.e. 120 (48 percent) and the individuals who believed that there was no washing of the hands after provision of healthcare services i.e. 130 (52 percent) based on the responses given by the study participants, majority of the respondents believe that there is no use of any type of protective equipment such as mask, gloves, and gowns among others. Only 42 participants (16.8) believed that there is the use of personal protective equipment.
The length of working experience is associated with the knowledge score based on the outcome of this study. According to the result of the study, healthcare providers who have been in the medical field for not less than ten years are more likely to be knowledgeable about the issues related to the prevention programs. The increase in the knowledge in relation to the number of experience is likely to be related to the increase in the number of years of practice which increases exposure to different healthcare settings. Such healthcare providers are exposed repeatedly and are becoming more experienced through interacting and taking part in working with senior healthcare providers.
| Variable | Response | Figures | Frequency |
| There is washing of the hands using soap before prior to the start of healthcare | Yes | 140 | 56% |
| No | 110 | 44% | |
| There is a habit of washing hand using soap after providing care to the patient | Yes | 200 | 80 % |
| No | 50 | 20% | |
| There is washing of the hands without soap prior to or after patient care | Yes | 120 | 48% |
| No | 130 | 52 % | |
| There is the use of all categories of personal protective equipment | Ye | 42 | 16.8 |
| No | 208 | 83.2 |
Aspects related to the knowledge of the healthcare professionals regarding the issue of preventing healthcare-acquired infections
Some of the major factors which were associated with the knowledge in relation to the healthcare-acquired prevention included age, education attainment, the work experience of the healthcare providers, sex of the respondents, profession, and training received in relation to the techniques used in the prevention of healthcare-acquired infections. Healthcare providers who are over 31 years were three times more knowledgeable as compared to individuals or healthcare providers whose age bracket was 21 to 25 years. Male healthcare employees were twice likely to be more knowledgeable as compared to their female counterparts.
This study also reveals that the working experience strongly influenced the practices towards prevention of healthcare-acquired infections. Individuals with experience of more than ten years of work within healthcare sector were four times likely to possess the knowledge required to help in the control or prevention of healthcare-acquired infections as compared to individuals or healthcare provider who had work experience of fewer than five years in the field of healthcare.
This study also indicates that the level of education greatly impacted on the knowledge acquired to help in the prevention of healthcare-acquired infections. In this case, healthcare providers whose education level was in the Master level or above Masters level were more knowledgeable as compared to other levels of education i.e. Bachelors and Diploma. Healthcare providers with a master level of education were thrice more likely to be knowledgeable about the issues related to healthcare-acquired infections. Healthcare workers with Bachelor level of education were twice more likely to be more knowledgeable as compared to the healthcare providers who had a diploma level of education.
The infection training program is also playing an important role in increasing the level of experience and knowledge required to help in the reduction of healthcare-acquired infections. Healthcare providers who have not yet received training on the techniques required towards prevention and control of healthcare-acquired infections are less knowledgeable about the infection prevention as compared to those who had undergone through the training program related to the prevention of healthcare-acquired infection. The result from this study indicating that healthcare providers with higher education appear to be having more knowledge score as compared to the low educational level is an indication that these healthcare providers have acquired more educational information related to the prevention of healthcare-acquired infections.
Limitation of the study
Healthcare-acquired infections are considered to be a very broad topic, therefore, it has not been possible to cover all aspects of the healthcare-acquired infections in this one research paper. This, therefore, implies that I have been selective in choosing the major factors in the present argument with regard to the healthcare-acquired infections which is causing major concern in the public healthcare sector. Another limitation of this study is that it was restricted to a specific healthcare facility.
This, therefore, implies that it does not reveal the real situation in the entire world, however, it shows that the clear picture of what is happening in a major healthcare facility in relation to the lack of knowledge, poor practices, and other factors such as socio-demographic aspects. These factors are considered to be playing a major important role in with regard to the issue of healthcare-acquired infections. Another limitation in this study is that it was specifically restricted to the healthcare providers as the key individuals who are playing a role in the increase in the reduction or increase in the healthcare-acquired infections. Even though patients are contributing to the spread of healthcare-acquired infections this study was mainly focused on the healthcare providers as the major key players that can be targeted with policies aimed at controlling healthcare-acquired infection in many healthcare facilities.
References
Batran, A., Ayed, A., Salameh, B., Ayoub, M., & Fasfous, A. (2018). Are standard precautions for hospital-acquired infection among nurses in the public sector satisfactory? AMHS , 6 (2), 223-227. Desta, M., Ayenew, T., Sitotaw, N., Tegegne, N., Dires, M., & Getie, M. (2018). Knowledge, practice and associated factors of infection prevention among healthcare workers in Debre Markos referral hospital, Northwest Ethiopia. BMC Health Serv Res, 18, 465. Haque, M., Sartelli, M., McKimm, J., & Bakar, A. M. (2018). Healthcare-associated infections – an overview. Infection Drug Resist, 11, 2321-2333. Imad, F., Ayed, A., Faeda, E., & Lubna, H. (2015). Knowledge and Practice of Nursing Staff towards Infection Control Measures in the Palestinian Hospitals. ERIC, 6 (4), 79-90. Jahangir, M., Ali, M., & Riaz, M. S. (2017). Knowledge and Practices of Nurses Regarding Spread of Nosocomial Infection In government Hospitals, Lahore. J Liaquat Uni Med Health Sci, 16 (3), 149-153. Moyo, G. (2013). Factors influencing compliance with infection prevention standard precautions among nurses working at Mbagathi district hospital, Nairobi, Kenya. Doctoral dissertation, University of Nairobi. Stone, P. (2017). Economic burden of healthcare-associated infections: an American perspective. Expert Rev Pharmacoecon Outcomes Res, 9 (5), 417-422. Teshager, A. F., Engeda, H. E., & Worku, W. Z. (2015). Knowledge, Practice, and Associated Factors towards Prevention of Surgical Site Infection among Nurses Working in Amhara Regional State Referral Hospitals, Northwest Ethiopia. Surgery Research and Practice.
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