HOSPITAL PERSONNEL'S PERCEPTION AND KNOWLEDGE OF HOSPITAL ACQUIRED INFECTION CONTROL

Abstract

Hospital acquired infections (HAI) are a major source of morbidity and mortality in human and veterinary hospitals. Research in human hospitals has shown that well focused staff education is an important step in limiting the development of HAI. Our hospital currently has no training program with respect to HAI. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the general knowledge of hospital staff concerning HAI as the first step in developing a hospital wide education program. Ninety doctors and technicians were given a questionnaire containing 15 questions about HAI. The questionnaires were hand distributed and immediately completed. Ten of the questions tested knowledge of HAI, while five questions concerned the individual's perception of HAI in our hospital. Answers were given as a range from strongly agree to strongly disagree or in the form of multiple choice.With respect to their perception of HAI, 66% of technicians and 50% of doctors believed that they possess a good working knowledge of HAI. Several areas for improvement in hospital staff knowledge were identified. Technicians were more likely than doctors to incorrectly believe that 1) routine environmental cultures are effective at preventing HAI (percent correct answer: technicians 30%, doctors 52%), 2) that all animals that aspirated gastric contents under anesthesia develop clinical evidence of pneumonia (percent correct answer: technicians 55%, doctors 84%), and 3) that animals with an indwelling urinary catheter should be treated with prophylactic antibiotics (percent correct answer: technicians 51%, doctors 90%). In addition, doctors were more likely to identify Amikacin as the antibiotic of choice for patients with HAI in our hospital (percent correct answer: technicians 27%, doctors 79%). Neither group was able to adequately identify the patients in the ICU as the primary reservoir for the multi‐drug resistant pathogens that cause HAI (percent correct answer: technicians 20%, doctors 15%). The discrepancy in knowledge between the two groups is likely explained by attendance of faculty, residents, and interns at one or more continuing education rounds sessions where HAI were discussed. This finding is contrary to what is frequently found in human hospitals where the nursing staff typically demonstrates superior knowledge of HAI when compared to doctors.The results of this study demonstrate that knowledge of HAI is not optimal in both the doctors and technicians in our hospital. Further better focused efforts are warranted to address the educational shortcomings evidenced by this study.