Evaluation of Nurses' Practices toward Some Sterilization Techniques at Emergency Department in Al-Diwaniya Teaching Hospital

Abstract

Background: Sterilization techniques are types of healthcare's many effective and relevant clinical competencies. It is a group of methods used to prevent contamination with microorganisms and, carefully applied under special conditions to reduce infection. The sterilization technique's terminology is frequently inconsistent, used inter changeably, misleading and without facts, all of which seems to have contributed to variability in application, insufficient risk management and unregulated realistic standards. It requires a series of steps to deter infection designed at shielding patients from diseases related to the spread of pathogenic microorganisms. One of the most important roles of nurses is infection control and prevention. Among the important measures that may reduce infection or complications of infection are patient education, use of personal protective equipment and hand hygiene and other invasive equipment. In hospitals, all nurses are responsible for the safety of patients and keeping hospitals clean and sterile of infection, although there are some nurses called infection control nurses.

Aims of the study: to evaluating of nursesꞌ practices toward Some Sterilization Techniques at the Emergency Department.

Methodology: Quantitative design (a descriptive study) was carried out at Emergency Department in Al-Diwaniya Teaching Hospital for the period of (17th September, 2020 to 16th March, 2021) on a non-probability (purposive) sample consisting of (30 nurses) working in Emergency Department.

Results: The results of this study indicated that nurses' practices for sterile domains in the pre-test was fair at mean score (1.53). The researcher concluded that the nursesꞌ practices had poor toward sterilization techniques at Emergency Department.

Conclusion: The researcher concluded that the nurses' practices were not at the level required (poor) to fit with the critical and special nature of Emergency Department.

Recommendations: The study recommended that can participating all emergency nurses in special educational program and encouraging to enhance knowledge and practices related to sterilization techniques and provide medical supplies such as: (gloves, mask, and gowns) to infection control in the Emergency Department.