Evaluation of infection control at Butiru Chrisco Hospital in Manafwa District, Eastern Uganda

Abstract

Infection prevention and control is important for the improvement of quality care in hospital. This study aimed to identify risk associated with infection control, and to determine which infection control measures are available at Butiru Chrisco hospital and how these measures are put to use by the staff working in the hospital. This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at Butiru Chrisco hospital in Manafwa District. The study involved 100 respondents who were staff employed by Butiru Chrisco hospital. With different educational standards, awareness of infection control was assessed through a structured questionnaire that was administered to those who consented to participate. Random sampling was done on 10 staff, this helped correct the questionnaire making it suitable for the study but the results were not included in this study. The study revealed that out of 100 respondents, 72(72%) were nurses, 60(60%) were females and 78(78%) had been employed by the hospital for less than four years. Half 50(50%) revealed that airborne infections are the commonest infections in the hospital. The study also reveals that more than 80% reported positive response to infection control tasks with 80(80%) agreeing that practice of infection control reduces likelihood of infection spread to patients. From the study, it was concluded that, there is moderate awareness of infection control with more than half of the respondents having positive ideas about infection control and use of available measures like glove, apron, and hand washing. However, practice and compliance with standard precautions was less than optimal. The researcher recommends continuous health visits by ministry of health (MOH) of Uganda to the hospital and evaluation of the practices to ensure that the health workers practice infection control following the standard guidelines. Also, hand washing or use of hand sanitizers with alcohol or other antiseptics as a measure of disinfecting the hands before or after handling a patient is encouraged. Keywords: Infection, health workers, hand washing, Manafwa District