Surgical Healthcare Workers Knowledge and Attitude on Infection Prevention and Control: A Case of Tamale Teaching Hospital, Ghana

Abstract

Background. Most morbidities and mortalities related to clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic procedures are related to infection and the solution to this is good infection prevention and control (IPC) compliance which is influenced by the right knowledge and positive attitude. Aim. This study aimed to assess infection prevention and control (IPC) knowledge and attitude among healthcare workers at the surgical department of Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH). Methods. This study was conducted using a descriptive cross-sectional survey. Data entry and analysis were done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 and Graph Pad Prism version 6.05. Tables, frequencies, and percentages were used for descriptive analysis and chi-square analysis for the associations. Results. Of the 156 participants who responded, 22 (14.1%) were doctors, with 107 (68.6%) nurses, 12 (7.7%) certified registered anesthetics (CRA), and 15 (9.6%) orderlies. Approximately, 50.6% of the respondents were knowledgeable with regard to IPC and 55.1% of the respondents had a good attitude towards IPC. Factors associated with knowledge level were educational level p ≤ 0.001 , occupation p ≤ 0.001 , marital status p = 0.030 , and age p = 0.030 . The occupation was the only factor associated with the attitude level p = 0.048 . Conclusion. More than half of the healthcare providers reported good knowledge and attitude towards IPC. Proportionally, more nurses had good IPC knowledge and attitude as compared to other professional groups. Firming up and assimilating universal precaution with routine services by providing training, protocol, rules, and regulation are recommended.

Nurses in NICUs’ views on nosocomial infection prevention

“…This conclusion is similar to that of study findings[ 27 ] who found that the amount of practice was >58%. However, it is lower than the 74% discovered by research evidence,[ 10 ] but it is greater than many other studies, which revealed that this level of practice accounted for 52%[ 28 ] and 58%,[ 29 ] respectively. This gap in results could be attributable to individuals' differing views toward using infection control measures.…”

Evaluating the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of healthcare workers regarding high‐risk nosocomial infections: A global cross‐sectional study

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Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards advance directives among clinical nurses: Multicenter cross‐sectional survey

“…In the present study, we found that unmarried nurses had better knowledge than married nurses, possibly because unmarried nurses might spend less time with their families and so had more time for attending the training course on ADs. In a survey study of surgical healthcare workers' knowledge of infection prevention and control, marital status ( p = .030) was one factor associated with the knowledge level (Alhassan et al., 2021). A correlation between marital status and knowledge was established in a study in which divorced or widowed nurses (83.3%) had more adequate knowledge of COVID‐19 (Tamang et al., 2020).…”