Knowledge, Attitude and Practice in the Prevention of Nosocomial Infections among the Hospital Staff of a Nigerian Tertiary Hospital.

BACKGROUND

Nosocomial infections are a public health problem worldwide that contribute significantly to the morbidity and mortality of hospitalized patients. Thus, the knowledge and perception of the prevention of nosocomial infections is an integral part of safe, high-quality patient care and is essential for the well-being of the patients, staff, and visitors in all healthcare establishments.

METHODS

It was a cross-sectional study conducted among healthcare workers in Babcock University Teaching Hospital, Ilisan-Remo, Ogun State Nigeria, involving 250 respondents who were selected through a computer-generated simple random sampling technique. Analysis was done using SPSS version 17, descriptive statistical methods were used to summarize the data. The test of significance was done using a t-test. A p-value of < 0.05 was regarded as statistically significant.

RESULTS

The majority of the respondents, 235 (94.0%), were aware of nosocomial infections. The majority of the clinical staff, 140 (92.1%), had good knowledge, and 12(7.9%) had average knowledge compared to the non-clinical staff, 98(100.0%), with average knowledge of nosocomial infections. However, the statistical test (t=2.106; p<0.05) shows there was a significant difference in the knowledge of nosocomial infections between the clinical and nonclinical staff. The majority of the respondents, 231 (92.4%), had a good attitude towards the prevention of nosocomial infections, while a majority, 160 (80.0%), also had good practice in the prevention of nosocomial infections.

CONCLUSION

The study showed that the majority of the respondents had good knowledge, attitude, and practice in the prevention of nosocomial infections. However, there was a significant difference in the knowledge of prevention of nosocomial infections between clinical and non-clinical staff. Increasing educational knowledge by training health workers and organizing workshops/seminars on the prevention and transmission of nosocomial infections and implementation of infection control policies and practices among health workers will help to reduce the spread of nosocomial infections in hospital settings.