Background
Nosocomial infections are associated with significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. The rational of this study was to assess infection control awareness and practices among Health Care Workers (HCWs) in surgical departments in Benha University hospital.
Methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted on medical group and nursing group working in the nine surgical departments in Benha University hospital over the period from the first of February to the end of May 2014. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect detailed information on personal and job characteristics and the following infection control knowledge domains: the general concept of Infection Control (IC) and Standard Precautions (SPs), hand hygiene, Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs), sharp disposal and sharp injuries and the care of HCWs. Also, information on the commitments of HCWs to infection control practices and hospital environment was collected using an observational checklist.
Results
A total of 176 physicians and 115 nurses were included. The majority of the medical group and nursing group had never trained on SPs for IC (~98% and 76.5% respectively). Knowledge scores and practices of IC precautions were generally low. Male physicians with work experience >10 years had higher knowledge scores for sharp disposal and sharp injuries compared to the females and those with lower experience (P=0.02). There were highly significant correlation between the age of physicians and scores for IC and SPs and sharp disposal and sharp injuries (P |
