Abstract
Standard precautions (SP) refer to the minimum infection prevention practice applied whenever providing patient care, irrespective of the diagnosis. SP is applied to all patients all the time to prevent unprotected contact with body fluids so that bloodborne infections and the risks of infection transmission are unlikely. It involves various components that when consistently practised, prevents the spread of infection to health care workers, patients, and visitors. This study assessed the knowledge and practice of standard precaution among health care workers in public primary and secondary facilities in Edo State. A Cross-Sectional study design was used to study 217 HCWs in both public primary and secondary health facilities. Respondents were selected using the cluster sampling technique. The study was carried out between April and October 2019. Most of the HCWs (94.5%) were aware of SP with their source of awareness, mainly from their colleagues. Their knowledge of SP was generally poor. Only 23 (10.6%) of the respondents had good knowledge, others either had fair 153(70.50%) or poor 41(18.90%) knowledge of SP with a statistically significant relationship between knowledge of SP and the HCWs level of completed education (p-value 0.019) as well as with the professional group they belong to (p-value 0.002). The practice of SP was generally abysmal, with only 3(1%) having good practice. The knowledge and practice of standard precaution among health workers at both the primary and secondary levels of care in Edo State were abysmally poor. There is an urgent need to organise sustained infection prevention and control (IPC) training as well as implement strategies to improve IPC competence among the HCWs in the primary and secondary facilities in Edo State.
Highlights
Standard precautions (SPs) are the basic infection prevention practices that apply to all patients all the time regardless of the diagnosis of the patient, in any setting where health care is required.[1]
A study carried out among healthcare workers (HCWs) in Primary Health Care levels in Enugu, Southeast Nigeria revealed that there were serious knowledge deficits on the meaning, aim and components of SPs especially those related to hand hygiene, sharps disposal, and the management of sharps injuries.7Similarly, in another study conducted at Mizan-Aman General Hospital, Southwest Ethiopia, the researchers concluded that the majority of health care workers' knowledge, attitude and practice toward standard precaution were not sufficient, favourable and safe enough to the expected standard.[8]
The low level of dissemination of information on SP to HCWs at the primary and secondary health care facilities through quality means like hospital seminars and training in schools could be a reflection of the neglect and lack of commitment to workforce development at the primary and secondary facilities with the resultant manifestations of inadequate knowledge of the critical subject matter demonstrated by the HCWs in these facilities
Summary
Standard precautions (SPs) are the basic infection prevention practices that apply to all patients all the time regardless of the diagnosis of the patient, in any setting where health care is required.[1]. A crosssectional survey conducted in 2012 to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of standard precaution of infection control among healthcare workers in two tertiary hospitals in Nigeria, revealed a percentage median knowledge score of 90%, with 97% of the respondents knowing that standard precautions should be practised on all patients and laboratory specimen irrespective of diagnosis.[5] a study carried out among HCWs in Primary Health Care levels in Enugu, Southeast Nigeria revealed that there were serious knowledge deficits on the meaning, aim and components of SPs especially those related to hand hygiene, sharps disposal, and the management of sharps injuries.7Similarly, in another study conducted at Mizan-Aman General Hospital, Southwest Ethiopia, the researchers concluded that the majority of health care workers' knowledge, attitude and practice toward standard precaution were not sufficient, favourable and safe enough to the expected standard.[8] Generally, most of the studies on the practice of standard precaution are commonly conducted in tertiary health facilities in Nigeria and other developing countries without attempts to ascertain what the situation is at the primary and secondary levels of health care deliveries. In a survey carried out among nurses working in Primary Health
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