Knowledge and Practice of Standard Precautions by Nurses in Hospitals of Babylon Governorate

Abstract

Background: Hospital-acquired infection (HAI) is one of the most frequent issues that hospitals are facing in every country worldwide. Since nurses are an essential part of the medical workforce that they play a special role in preventing the transmission of infections within hospitals.

Objectives: to assess levels of nurses’ knowledge and practice regarding standard precautions. Find out the relationship between knowledge level and practice level.

Methodology: 400 nurses from eight hospitals in Babil governorate are included in this cross-sectional study. To assess the knowledge and practice levels, an interview questionnaire was used. SPSS-27 was used for analyzing the data that was collected between September 2022 and March 2023.

Results: The main results revealed that 56.3% of nurses had a high level of knowledge on standard precautions. While 51.5%of nurses had poor practice regarding standard precautions. A significant positive relationship between nurses' level of practice and their level of knowledge was also identified.

Conclusion: Despite the fact that the majority of study participants had a high level of knowledge, the majority did not always practice these precautions. In addition, the level of practice correlates positively with level of knowledge.