Knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward infection control precautions among nurses in Palestinian hospitals

Ahmad Ayed; Malakeh Z. Malak; Manwa Ayed; Riyad Allayed; Mustafa Shouli

doi:10.1515/ijnes-2023-0117

Article

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward infection control precautions among nurses in Palestinian hospitals

Ahmad Ayed , Malakeh Z. Malak , Manwa Ayed , Riyad Allayed and Mustafa Shouli

Published/Copyright: October 21, 2024

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From the journal International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship Volume 21 Issue 1

Abstract

Objectives

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are common complications in healthcare services, often caused by unsystematic antibiotic use. Despite advancements in medical care and technologies, the burden of HAIs continues to increase globally. Thus, this study purposed to evaluate the levels of knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward infection control precautions among nurses in Palestinian hospitals and identify the predictors of practices of infection control precautions.

Methods

A cross‑sectional study was conducted on 285 nurses who work at Palestinian hospitals in the West Bank. A self-reported questionnaire was used to collect data during the period from November 2022 to January 2023.

Results

The results revealed that 95.8 % of the participants endorsed good knowledge levels, 83.5 % reported positive attitude levels, and 91.2 % endorsed good practice levels toward infection control precautions. Also, gender as being female, attending a training program on infection control, and having good knowledge of infection control precautions were the main factors influencing practices of infection control precautions.

Conclusions

It is necessary to maintain nurses’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward infection control precautions by continuously conducting training workshops about infection control updating knowledge, and enhancing the work environment by implementing infection control policies and guidelines and providing sufficient resources and equipment to ensure safe practices.

Keywords: infection control; healthcare-associated infections; nurses; knowledge; attitudes; practice

Corresponding author: Malakeh Z. Malak, RN, PhD, Professor, Community Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan, Box 130 Amman, 11733, Jordan, E-mail: malakeh.m@zuj.edu.jo

Research ethics: All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee (Arab American University at Palestine).
Informed consent: Each participant provided informed consent before beginning the study.
Author contributions: Ayed. A: Conceptualization; Data curation; Investigation; Methodology; Project administration; Supervision; Validation; Visualization; Writing − original draft; Writing − review & editing. Malak: Conceptualization; Methodology; Validation; Visualization; Writing − original draft; Writing − review & editing. Ayed. M: Methodology; Writing − original draft; Writing − review & editing. Allayed. R: Methodology; Writing − original draft. Shouli: Methodology and Writing – original draft.
Competing interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Research funding: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Data availability: Not applicable.

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Received: 2023-12-12

Accepted: 2024-06-04

Published Online: 2024-10-21

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/ijnes-2023-0117

Keywords for this article

infection control; healthcare-associated infections; nurses; knowledge; attitudes; practice