Preparedness of Health Care Workers and Medical Students in University Hospital in Krakow for COVID-19 Pandemic within the CRACoV Project

Abstract

Backgrounds Health care workers’ (HCWs) knowledge of and compliance with personal protective procedures is a key for patients’ and personnel safety. The aim of this study was to assess which factors are associated with higher self-evaluations of training on infection prevention and control (IPC) and higher self-assessment of IPC practices used by HCWs regarding COVID-19 in University Hospital in Krakow, Poland, in January 2021. Material and methods This was an online survey on the preparedness for COVID-19 epidemic of medical/non-medical staff and medical students. Questions included in the survey concerned participants’ socio-demographic characteristics, hospital staff involvement in the training, knowledge about the hand hygiene, and adherence to IPC measures. Knowledge and Performance Index (K&PI) based on selected questions was constructed for to reflect both subjective (self-evaluation) of preparedness and objective IPC knowledge and skills of HCWs participated in the IPC training. Results A total of 1412 health care workers, including 129 medical students, participated in the study. The largest group, 53.6%, was made up of nurses and paramedics. Age of respondents significantly correlated with knowledge of IPC and with K&PI. The mean age of workers with high K&PI was 42.39 ± 12.53, and among those with low, 39.71 ± 13.10, p < 0.001. 51% UHK workers participated in IPC training, but 11.3% of physicians, 28.8% of other HCWs, and 55.8% of students did not know the IPC standard precaution. Most participants, 72.3%, felt that they had received sufficient training; however, 45.8% of students declined this. There was no correlation between self-reported preparedness and the K&PI, indicating that self-reported preparedness was inadequate for knowledge and skills. Nurses and paramedics assessed their knowledge most accurately. Participants with low K&PI and high subjective evaluation constituted a substantial group in all categories. Students least often overestimated (23.8%) and most often (9.6%) underestimated their knowledge and skills. Conclusions Our study revealed inadequate IPC practice, especially as it refers to the training programme. We confirmed the urgent need of including theory and practice of IPC in curricula of health professions’ training in order to provide students with knowledge and skills necessary not only for future pandemic situations but also for everyday work.

The Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies among HealthCare Workers in University Hospital in Krakow before the Era of Vaccination

“…Therefore, it should be remembered that PPE is only one of the elements of infection prevention and control, and without hand hygiene, for example, using PPE can be dangerous and contribute to self-infection. Another issue is whether perceiving the compliance with hygiene rules as inconvenient is associated with lower effectiveness (mentioned above) of the three critical points for the transfer of competences from training to behavior at the workplace—especially in the context of the previously described lack of knowledge regarding hand hygiene [ 2 ].…”

“…Vaccination earlier than 4 days before blood donation was the exclusion criterion for the participants. The methods and studied population have previously been described in detail [ 2 ].…”

“…The fifth-year students only were invited to the study because of their participation in clinical rotations at the UHK during the pandemic and completion of their entire pre-graduate medical education. In addition, fifth-year students were invited to volunteer at the UHK and other hospitals [ 2 ].…”

“…A study conducted by the authors [ 2 ] on the preparedness of HCWs and medical students at the University Hospital in Krakow (UHK) for the COVID-19 pandemic pointed to a problem with the implementation of effective training. It also highlighted an unsatisfactory level of knowledge in the field of infection prevention and control in some groups of healthcare staff.…”

“…The study was conducted after the big wave of COVID-19 in Poland in November 2020, when the highest 14-day rate of reported COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population was 877 (week 46 of 2020). In Poland, from 4 March—when the first case of COVID-19 was detected—until 31 December 2020, a total of 1,322,947 cases were reported, including 87,471 infections of healthcare workers, accounting for 6.6% of all infections [ 2 ].…”