Knowledge and practices of biosecurity measures in the students of the last year of the Nursing Career of an Ecuadorian university

Abstract

Introduction: Biosafety is currently the pillar where risk prevention converges, adopted not only by health teams, but also by the general population. Objective: To determine the level of knowledge and practice of biosafety measures among students in the last year of the nursing career at a public university in Quito, Ecuador. Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out, with a population of 140 students of the rotating internship of the Nursing career. Data were obtained relating the variables: knowledge of biosafety standards of rotating interns and the places where they performed their pre-professional internships, with a confidence level of 95%, considering p < 0.05 as significant, a previously validated and structured questionnaire was applied with 16 questions validated with a Cronbach's Alpha of 0.85, which covered the principles of biosafety. Results: it was evidenced that 100% of the students knew the hand washing procedure; 86% knew about the knowledge, norms, and principles of biosafety; with respect to waste management, only 76% were clear about the procedure; 54% knew how to proceed with the treatment of contaminated material. Regarding the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), 91% of the students used the surgical mask as protection in the places of practice and only 39% used the N95 respirator. The vaccination used before performing their practices it was evidenced that 100% of the participants had the COVID- 19 vaccine, followed by the Hepatitis B vaccine with 94%, the Diphtheria and Tetanus vaccine was used in 91% and 70% the influenza vaccine. Conclusions: It could be determined that biosafety knowledge was high in the evaluated students, on the other hand, biosafety practices, the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), depend on the complexity and level of care where the practices were performed, more emphasis should be made regarding waste management and treatment of contaminated material. In health careers, the evaluation of adherence to biosafety practices is of vital importance.