The Effect of Educational Program on Knowledge, Attitude and Practice on Sterile Technique among Operating Room Nurses of a Private Hospital in Selangor

Abstract

Surgical site infection continues to be the most common hospital-acquired infection among operated patients, associated with expenses, mortality, and morbidity. Operating room nurses play a big role in preventing and controlling theatre infection by applying sterile technique principles. For that reason, the Operating Room nurses, to accomplish their tasks, must have the knowledge and good attitude to practice the sterile technique. However, various studies revealed that OR nurses have insufficient knowledge, attitude and practice of sterile technique. This study aimed identify the effect of educational programs towards enhancing operating room nurses' knowledge, attitude and practice of sterile technique in two KPJ Hospitals. The research design chosen in this study was Quasi- experimental, where an educational program was conducted as an intervention on a single group pre and posttest posttest. A total of 48 Registered Nurses working in the Operating Room of the two selected Hospitals in Selangor were recruited to use purposive samples. The sample from the Registered Nurses population was selected using the Convenience sampling method. The data were analyzed using the IBM Social Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26. The finding of this study revealed that 1 (2.3%) of respondents had low knowledge while 17 (39.5%) had a medium level of knowledge, and 25 (58.1%) had a high level of knowledge for pre-intervention. Post-intervention respondents had medium knowledge, 8 (18.6%) and 35 (81.4%) for high knowledge. There is still a need for nurses to be better educated on the principles of sterile techniques to ensure the operated patient's safety and reduce the rate of postoperative wound infection among the operated patient.