Knowledge and Practice Towards Cleaning Medical Equipment among Nursing Students in a Malaysian Public University

Abstract

Background: Healthcare-associated infections are infections acquired by patients during stay or receiving treatment within healthcare facility. High cases of healthcare-associated infections are contributed by poor medical equipment disinfection among healthcare workers, including nurses. It could be due to poor practice and awareness during their training in universities and colleges. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and practices regarding cleaning medical equipment and their association with socio-demographic characteristics among nursing students at International Islamic University Malaysia Kuantan Campus. Methods: A total of 252 nursing students were recruited using stratified random sampling. Data of socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, and practices related to medical equipment disinfection were collected using an online questionnaire. Descriptive analysis and chi-square test were used to assess the level of knowledge and practice on medical equipment contamination and disinfection, and their association with socio-demographic characteristics. Results: Most respondents (84.1%) have a good level of knowledge regarding disinfecting medical equipment. Meanwhile, 50.8% of respondents have a good level of practice regarding disinfecting medical equipment. Further analysis revealed a significant strong association between academic year and level of knowledge (p<0.05). Conclusion: The study showed that most of the nursing students have good knowledge and practice regarding medical equipment disinfection. The significant strong association between academic year and level of knowledge indicates the knowledge improvement among nursing students as their academic years increasing. Though, a larger study comprising of more universities are needed to gain the better insight on influence of nursing students on healthcare-associated infections in Malaysia.