Infection Control Education Programs for Nursing Students: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to use a systematic review to investigate how infection control education has been designed, implemented and evaluated in undergraduate programs in nursing.Methods: This study was conducted base on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). To search studies related to infection control education programs, Ovid-EMBASE, CINAHL, Pubmed, KoreaMed, KMBASE and KISS were used. A total of 2,306 studies were identified, and 13 studies were selected for final analysis.Results: Ten studies out of 13 were designed as pre-post, no control group, quasi-experimental study designs. Nosocomial infection and standard precautions related infection control education were the most frequently selected topics and online was the most common teaching-learning method. The infection control education programs showed significant effect on knowledge and attitude. The mean difference of 7 studies for knowledge was 5.1 (95% CI: 2.36, 8.67, p<.001) and the mean difference of 4 studies for attitude was 3.34 (95% CI: 0.12, 6.55, p<.001).Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that infection control education effectively improves the knowledge, attitude and compliance of nursing students. Therefore, it is necessary to develop more specific educational programs that can reflect the changes of the times and the demands of clinical nurses.