Abstract
Little is known about nursing students' experiences of infection control in the clinical setting despite its importance protecting patients and reducing risks of occupational exposure. We conducted an online survey involving a fixed choice Likert-type scale with 19 items and an open question to solicit more detailed information with a national sample of student nurses in the United Kingdom. Four hundred eighty-eight student nurses completed questionnaires. All participants reported lack of compliance for every item on the Likert scale, most frequently from community settings and long-term care facilities for older people. Incidents most commonly witnessed were failure to comply with hand hygiene protocols, failure to comply with isolation precautions, poor standards of cleaning in the patient environment, not changing personal protective clothing between patients, and poor management of sharp instruments. Qualified nurses did not provide good role models. Medical staff were the occupational group most heavily criticized for poor compliance. Students demonstrated sound understanding of infection control and were able to identify lack of compliance on the basis of preclinical classroom instruction. The study findings indicate that ensuring safe infection control practice remains a challenge in the United Kingdom despite its high priority.
Highlights
Healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) are the most frequently reported adverse events in healthcare delivery 1
There is general agreement over the key infection prevention and control (IPC) precautions that should be delivered in preparation for clinical practice in the research literature: hand hygiene, use of personal protective equipment (PPE), isolation precautions, safe handling and disposal of sharp instruments, principles of asepsis, maintaining cleanliness in the clinical environment and ensuring that equipment is decontaminated between patients [8, 9, 10]
Lack of compliance was most commonly witnessed in relation to hand hygiene
Summary
Healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) are the most frequently reported adverse events in healthcare delivery 1. Education about infection prevention and control (IPC) is important at an early stage in student nurses’ pre-clinical experience to protect patients and reduce risks of occupational exposure to infection [2, 3]. Studies exploring student nurses’ knowledge of IPC have produced mixed findings. In these studies student nurses were better informed than medical students, more convinced that IPC was important and their self-reported levels of compliance were higher [3, 4]. Little is known about nursing students’ experiences of infection control in the clinical setting despite its importance protecting patients and reducing risks of occupational exposure
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