Variables associated with compliance with standard precautions among hospital nurses: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
This study aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify variables associated with standard precautions compliance among hospital nurses and to comprehensively examine their effect sizes. A systematic review and meta-analysis were reported in accordance with the PRISMA and MOOSE guidelines. Studies published in English or Korean were retrieved from KMbase, KoreaMed, KISS, ScienceON, RISS, Nanet, DBpia, PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and CENTRAL. Data collection was conducted from July 6 to July 16, 2024. To ensure a comprehensive search, no restrictions were placed on the publication period, and studies published up to June 2024 were included in the literature search. Analyses were performed using R ver. 4.4.1. Of the 2,321 studies screened, 50 were included in the systematic review and 41 were included in the meta-analysis. Variables were categorized according to the ecological model. Among individual-level factors, variables with medium correlation effect sizes (ESr ≥.30) included self-efficacy (ESr=.41; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.24 to 0.56), perceived barriers (ESr=-.35; 95% CI, -0.59 to -0.05), cues to action (ESr=.34; 95% CI, 0.07 to 0.57), and perceived benefits (ESr=.30; 95% CI, 0.13 to 0.46). Among organizational factors, organizational culture for infection control (ESr=.47; 95% CI, 0.39 to 0.54) and patient safety culture (ESr=.44; 95% CI, 0.35 to 0.53) demonstrated medium effect sizes. Other statistically significant variables with small effect sizes were also identified. No variables were identified within the interpersonal, community, or public policy domains. This study identified self-efficacy and organizational culture for infection control as key determinants of compliance with standard precautions. Strengthening these factors may reduce healthcare-associated infections and promote safer nursing care (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42024566518).
- Supplementary Content
- 10.1111/inr.12946
- Mar 4, 2024
- International nursing review
The aim was to investigate the interrelationships of nurses' safety climate, quality of care, and adherence to and compliance with standard precautions (SPs). Investigations about nurses' safety climate and quality care and their association with adherence to and compliance with SPs remain remarkably scant across literature, specifically among developing countries like the Philippines. Cross-sectional design and structural equation modeling (SEM) approach while complying with STROBE guidelines. Participant nurses were recruited using convenience sampling (n=870). Four validated self-report instruments were used to collect data from February to August 2022. Spearman rho, SEM, mediation, and path analyses were employed for data analysis. The emerging model showed acceptable model fit parameters. The safety climate positively influenced the quality of care and adherence to and compliance with SPs. Quality of care directly affected adherence to SPs, while adherence to SPs directly affected compliance with SPs. The quality of care mediated the relationship between safety climate and adherence to SPs. Whereas adherence to SPs mediated the relationships between safety climate and compliance with SPs and the quality of care and compliance with SPs. Nurses' safety climate directly affected the quality of care and SPs adherence and compliance. The quality of care mediated the impact of safety climate on SPs adherence. Finally, SPs adherence demonstrated a mediating effect among quality of care, safety climate, and SPs compliance. Nursing policymakers and administrators can use the findings to design strategic policies and sustainable in-service educational courses fostering and maintaining nurses' safety climate, quality of care, and SPs adherence and compliance.
- Research Article
- 10.37107/jhas.228
- Aug 18, 2021
- Journal of Health and Allied Sciences
Introduction: The compliance with standard precautions during clinical exposure prevents the risk of infections in health professionals. Despite high degree effectiveness of standard precautions, low compliance rates has been reported among the nursing students in Nepal. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and factors associated with the compliance of standard precautions in clinical exposure among the nursing students in Pokhara, Nepal.
 Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in between July to December 2019 among 208 Proficiency Certificate Level nursing students studying in different nursing schools in Pokhara. Self-reporting questionnaire was used as a tool to determine knowledge on standard precautions and Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale (CSPS) was used to measure compliance rate. Chi-square test was performed to assess the factors associated with the compliance of standard precautions and binary logistic regression was performed to measure the strength of association.
 Results: Out of 208 students participated in the study; the overall compliance rate with standard precautions was 65%. Similarly, 91.3% nursing students had fair and only 2.9% had a good knowledge on standard precautions with average knowledge score 12.15 out of 24. Multivariable analysis revealed age <18 years (AOR=2.307, 95% CI: 1.217-4.371), availability of infection control (IC) guidelines in wards (AOR=5.331, 95% CI: 1.852-15.345) and feedback on safety practices (AOR=7.419, 95% CI: 1.409-39.061) as the predictors of compliance of standard precautions among nursing students.
 Conclusion: The study concluded that, despite having fair knowledge on standard precautions, compliance rate is comparatively less among the students. Age of students, availability of infection control (IC) guidelines and feedback on safety practices were identified as significant predictors. There is an immediate need of training/orientation on standard precautions before clinical posting along with provision of infection control guideline in wards and supportive supervision and feedback during clinical exposure.
- Research Article
1
- 10.37421/2167-1168.2020.9.506
- Oct 31, 2020
- The journal of nursing care
Introduction: The standard precautions advanced by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1996, goals of Standard precautions to reducing the risk of transmission of blood-borne and other pathogens in hospitals. The prpous of this study :to assess the knowledge and compliance of standard precautions among ICU Nurses in Xi'an hospitals, and to identify the relationship between compliance, knowledge and general self-efficacy of standard among ICU Nurses in China. Methods: This study used a descriptive study design. A convenient sample of 471 ICU nurses working in 11 hospitals from Xi'an of Shaanxi Province in China. Data were gathered over four months, from June to October 2017. Tools: The questionnaire used for data collection included four parts:(1) general information,(2) knowledge of standard precautions, (3) compliance of standard precautions and (4) General self-efficacy scale. Data analyzed by SPSS 18. Result: 100% of respondents were female, their mean age was (28.6 ± 5.6), 90% of nurses have vaccination HBV, the mean knowledge score of participants were a good (17.3 ± 1.8 out of 20). (80.4%) of ICU nurses know Standard Precautions. The mean score of standard precautions compliance among ICU nurses were poor (66.12 ± 10.3 out of 80). Standard precautions knowledge was positively correlated with compliance (r=0.17) and general self-efficacy was also positively correlated with compliance (r=0.21). Conclusion: Based on the conclusions of this study, it can be assumed that the standard prevention knowledge and compliance of nurses in this study are still lacking. Standard precautions education should be encouraged, and adequate practical personal protection equipment should be implemented in order to reduce hospital infections and protect the health of patients and medical staff.
- Research Article
10
- 10.1111/ijn.12897
- Oct 14, 2020
- International Journal of Nursing Practice
The aim of this study was to assess compliance with standard precautions by Saudi nursing interns who were undergoing their internship training in four governmental tertiary teaching hospitals in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and to determine factors predictive of this. Cross-transmission and infection prevention when delivering care must be strictly followed by nursing interns by complying with standard precautions during internship training. The study employed a descriptive-correlational and cross-sectional design. A total of 224 nursing interns participated in the study by completing the Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale Arabic version between March 2017 and June 2017. A high overall compliance rate (84.8%) was observed. Nursing interns reported the highest compliance score in changing gloves between each patient contact and the lowest score in disposing of sharps boxes only when full. Nursing interns in hospital D showed the highest compliance rate over those in other hospitals. Age, sex, marital status, months in internship training and attendance of nursing interns in infection control seminars/trainings influenced their standard precautions compliance. The study revealed good compliance by nursing interns with standard precautions. However, regular educational and clinical interventions are still needed to improve some areas and to ensure the continuity of high levels of compliance in other areas of standard precautions among nursing interns.
- Research Article
68
- 10.14419/ijans.v1i2.132
- Oct 3, 2012
- International Journal of Advanced Nursing Studies
Student nurses are often exposed to various infections during their clinical exposure. Knowledge and compliance with standard precautions is essential in the prevention of health care infections and protection of patients as well as medical workers from exposure to infectious agents. This investigation assessed the knowledge and degree of compliance regarding standard precautions among student nurses in a government university in Samar, Philippines. A cross-sectional study was adopted for this investigation and data were collected over a period of one month from April 8 to May 7, 2012. Fifty eight student nurses who were enrolled in the university were all asked to complete the self report questionnaires regarding standard precautions. Vast majority (89.65%) of the student nurses have good knowledge (m = 14.45/19) and high compliance (m = 3.59) of standard precautions. The use of mask has the highest degree of compliance (m = 3.95) while the use of eye goggles has the lowest degree of compliance (m = 3.19). Findings suggest no significant association between knowledge and compliance with standard precautions. Teaching approaches must be geared towards intensifying further the compliances especially with the use of other protective equipments such eye goggles and gloves. Furthermore, environment that models and promotes standard precaution practices should be developed by the faculty.
- Research Article
- 10.1186/s12909-026-09362-w
- May 4, 2026
- BMC medical education
Healthcare-associated infections are a safety concern that continues to impact the quality of patient care. Standard precautions have a structure that determines the steps and conceptual framework to be followed within the scope of infection prevention and control practices. The study aimed to evaluate the effect of the clinical training process on nursing students' standard precautions compliance and attitudes. This study employed a quasi-experimental, single-group pre-test post-test design and was conducted at the Faculty of Nursing at a public university. 234 baccalaureate nursing students were included in the study. Before and after clinical training in the Spring Semester of the 2023-2024 Academic Year, the Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale was utilized to assess self-reported standard precautions compliance, while the Factors Influencing Adherence to Standard Precautions Scale-Student Version was used to evaluate attitudes toward standard precautions objectively. Overall self-reported compliance increased from 69.04% to 72.96% after clinical training. In the FIASP-SV post-test, the mean "justification" score was significantly lower among 3rd -year students, whereas the mean "practice culture" score was significantly lower among 2nd -year students compared with the other class years. In the pre-test, a low-level positive correlation was observed between the total FIASP-SV and total CSPS scores (r = 0.164; p < 0.05). The findings of this study highlight the importance of designing a clinical training program that provides students with opportunities to experience nursing skills and procedures that require strict adherence to standard precautions. Nursing academics must address strategies in the nursing curriculum that will enable nursing students to transfer knowledge of infection prevention and control practices to clinical education.
- Research Article
10
- 10.7739/jkafn.2022.30.2.225
- May 31, 2023
- Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
Purpose: This descriptive research study was conducted to examine hospital nurses’ knowledge of standard precautions, nursing professionalism, and organizational culture for infection control and their performance with guidelines for standard precautions, as well as to identify factors influencing the performance with guidelines for standard precautions.Methods: The study participants were 179 nurses with more than 6 months of experience working at a general hospital. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 28.0. Factors influencing performance with guidelines for standard precautions were identified by multiple regression analysis.Results: The factors affecting performance with guidelines for the standard precaution were infection control organizational culture (β=.29, <i>p</i>=.001), knowledge of standard precautions (β=.23, <i>p</i>=.001), and clinical experience (≥5) (β=-.15, <i>p</i>=.029), with a total explanatory power of approximately 29%.Conclusion: This study identified variables that could affect hospital nurses’ performance with guidelines for standard precautions, making a novel contribution to the literature. The results of this study can be used as a basis for improving the management of medical-related infections and as basic data that can enhance the implementation of guidelines on standard precautions by hospital nurses.
- Research Article
- 10.20884/1.jks.2024.19.2.9843
- Jul 24, 2024
- Jurnal Keperawatan Soedirman
Nursing students need effective learning methods to improve their abilities and skills in achieving competency. Virtual care reality in 360o videos is an alternative solution to a real and concrete learning method. This study aims to determine the effect of virtual care reality in 360o (VCR 360o) videos on compliance with standard precautions in nursing professional students. The study used a randomized control trial with the sample of 32 students for each group was obtained through a random sampling technique. This research was conducted at two state universities in Indonesia in 2022 and provided an intervention in the form of a 360o VCR for 17 minutes at least three times in each video containing material on standard precautions. A standard precautions compliance questionnaire was employed to investigate the main variable with a further analysis using paired t-test and independent t-test. The results of the study showed that there was a significant effect of the VCR 360o on increasing standard precautions compliance among students (p = 0.004). The research results are expected to be applied in the learning process of nurses in tertiary institutions and other learning topics.
- Research Article
- 10.58490/ctump.2024i7.2971
- May 8, 2024
- Tạp chí Y Dược học Cần Thơ
Background: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are complex conditions that appear in any healthcare facility. They truly become an economic and financial burden for the family and healthcare service system, particularly in developing countries. Nurses directly provide care for patients because they can be the cause of the spread of HAIs in healthcare institutions. Thus, nurses’ compliance with standard precautions plays a critical role in HAIs prevention efforts, especially in caring for children. Objectives: to examine compliance with standard precautions among pediatric nurses and related factors. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional descriptive correlational design was used. Sample size comprised of 285 pediatric nurses at selected government hospitals who have at least 6 months of experience as a nursing professional. Nurse’s adherence to standard precautions in caring was examined by using a 4-likert questionnaire including 20 items divided into 4 subscales as use of protective devices, disposal of sharps and waste, decontamination of spills and used articles, and prevention of cross-infection. Results: The age mean of nursing participants was 31.2 years. The overall compliance score was 3.16 (SD = 0.47) with 83.2% of nurses having good compliance with standard precautions. Among subscales of compliance, nurses’ practices with decontamination of spills and used articles had the highest scores. In contrast, the use of protective devices was the lowest. Besides, the study results showed a statistically significant relationship between nurses’ attitudes regarding HAIs prevention and their compliance with standard precautions (p<0.001). Meanwhile, there was no association between gender, level of education, experience in the year and standard precautions compliance. Conclusions: infection control practices with standard precautions among pediatric nurses were good. However, there were some aspects that should be improved. More related continuous training programs for nurses should be developed. Additionally, hospital administration and nurse managers should establish a system to regularly monitor and sustain compliance with infection control procedures among staff nurses as well as evaluate the suitability of HAIs prevention guidelines.
- Research Article
3
- 10.31436/ijcs.v4i2.184
- Jul 31, 2021
- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CARE SCHOLARS
Background: Lack of knowledge and understanding of standard precautions, and insufficient compliance with the established guidelines in nursing students will increase the risk of exposure to healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). This study aims to determine knowledge and compliance of standard precautions among the undergraduate nursing students and to identify the associated factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the undergraduate nursing students from a Malaysian public university in Pahang. A convenience sampling was used to select the participants. The participants were asked to complete an online survey consisting of questionnaire of knowledge and compliance of standard precautions. Results: A total of 178 undergraduate nursing students completed the questionnaires (response rate = 95%). Their mean age was 22.7 years old (SD = 1.1). The score of standard precautions knowledge was 90.9% (mean score = 16.4/18, SD = 1.5) and the score of compliance was 91.8% (mean score = 73.4/80, SD = 10.7). There were significant associations between age (p = 0.002), year of study (p = 0.032) and clinical posting experience (p = 0.010) with knowledge of standard precautions. Whilst only age (p = 0.011) was significantly associated with compliance of standard precautions. There was a significant positive association between knowledge and compliance of standard precautions (rs = 0.187, p = 0.012). Conclusion: Knowledge and compliance of standard precaution among the undergraduate nursing students were high and achieved the expected requirement for clinical posting. A continuous effort to improve adherence to standard precautions in nursing students is necessary to protect and prevent them from getting infected particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Research Article
1
- 10.1016/j.ajic.2025.11.004
- Nov 1, 2025
- American journal of infection control
Relationships among clinical competence, self-efficacy, organizational culture for infection control, and compliance with standard precautions in early career nurses.
- Research Article
70
- 10.1016/j.amsu.2021.01.058
- Jan 29, 2021
- Annals of Medicine and Surgery
BackgroundNurses and patients are often exposed to various types of infections during their clinical practice. Knowledge and compliance with standard precautions are essential to prevent hospitals associated infections and protect patients as well as medical workers from exposure to infectious agents. AimsThis study aimed to assess the level of knowledge, level of compliance, and associated factors toward compliance with standard precautions among registered nurses in the North of Jordan. MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted at three hospitals in the North of Jordan. Two were public hospitals and one was a university-affiliated hospital. A questionnaire concerning the knowledge and compliance with the standard precaution guidelines was distributed among 300 registered nurses of whom 266 completed the questionnaire (response rate 88.7%). Results53% of the participants were from governmental hospitals and 57.1% were females. The age median of them was 30 years (IQR = 28–32). The majority of the participants were medical/surgical RNs (33.1%) while only 8.3% of them were from the pediatric/gynecology departments. The overall knowledge score was 16.27 (SD = 3.15), and the total compliance score was 49.15 (SD = 12.36). Besides, the study showed a moderate positive correlation between the level of knowledge, experience in years, and the standard precautions compliance (r = 0.387, p = 0.01), (r = 0.341, p = 0.01), respectively. Conclusionsstandard precautions are the basic level of the infection control process. The participants may possess satisfactory knowledge and compliance levels. However, more training programs and more focusing on the standard precautions by educational institutes are needed for nurses to improve their knowledge and compliance with infection-control standard precautions.
- Research Article
19
- 10.4236/ojn.2016.64030
- Jan 1, 2016
- Open Journal of Nursing
Midwives and nurses should use the standard precautions as the basic level of infection control precautions when delivering care to all patients, regardless of their presumed infection status. Therefore midwifes and nurses should have sound knowledge and compliance with standard precaution. Aim of the study: The study aimed to assess the level of the compliance of standard precautions among the midwives and nurses in the Palestinian Hospitals. Method: A cross sectional study was conducted from May to June 2015 on 81 midwives and nurses from Palestinian hospitals. The data were collected from labor rooms and postpartum departments of Palestinian hospitals. Data were collected using pretested questionnaire on 81 midwives and nurses selected by convenience sample. Results: The current study showed that the average of standard precautions knowledge level and compliance are 74.6% and 83.8% respectively. There are an association between age, education, work experience, and compliance with standard precautions at p < 0.05 (0.000, 0.031, and 0.043) respectively. At the same time no significant association between training courses and compliance to standard precautions at p < 0.05 (0.191). Conclusion: The midwives and nurses in the current study for both knowledge and compliance have high level regarding standard precautions. There is an association between age, education, work experience, and compliance with standard precautions. Recommendations: Knowledge of midwives and nurses should be updated; the importance of latest evidence-based practices of infection control in continuing education/training program should be emphasized; and training programs for newly midwives and nurses about standard precaution and at regular intervals should be provided.
- Research Article
8
- 10.3390/ijerph18116149
- Jun 7, 2021
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Standard precautions protect patients and nurses from infection. Nevertheless, compliance with standard precautions is lower among emergency department nurses than other nurses. We examined the individual and organizational factors that influence emergency department nurses’ compliance with standard precautions via a cross-sectional study. A self-reported questionnaire survey was administered to 140 nurses working in nine emergency departments in South Korea. It included items regarding ethical awareness and standard precaution self-efficacy at the individual level as well as safety environment, organizational culture for infection control, and degree of compliance with standard precautions at the organizational level. Individual and organizational predictors were identified using a multilevel analysis. The results indicated that 81.1% of nurses’ compliance with standard precautions was influenced by individual differences, while only 18.9% was influenced by organizational differences. Individual- and organizational-level predictors explained 46.7% and 55.4% of the variance in emergency department nurses’ compliance with standard precautions, respectively. Emergency department nurses’ compliance with standard precautions was predicted by ethical awareness and standard precaution self-efficacy at the individual level and by organizational culture for infection control at the organizational level. Our findings provide evidence for the need to improve facilities and human resource management as well as the organizational culture for infection control.
- Research Article
4
- 10.1111/jan.16020
- Jan 7, 2024
- Journal of advanced nursing
This study aimed to analyse the effects of servant leadership on nurses' emotional failure and compliance with standard precautions and to explore the moderating effect of individual resilience. A cross-sectional survey. This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from October 9 to November 1, 2022. The convenience sampling method was used to collect questionnaire data from 924 clinical nurses in a third-class general hospital in Chongqing, China. The emotional exhaustion and compliance with standard precautions were at the general level. Servant leadership mediated by emotional exhaustion had a significant positive predictive effect on compliance with standard precautions. Personal resilience played a negative moderating role in the relationship between servant leadership and emotional exhaustion. For nurses with low resilience, servant leadership had a greater impact on emotional exhaustion. The current compliance with standard precautions for clinical nurses is not high due to emotional exhaustion. The level of servant leadership can alleviate nurses' emotional exhaustion and improve compliance with standard precautions. Especially for nurses with low personal resilience, the care and support of department leaders are needed. We found that the compliance with standard precautions is not high, and the link between emotional exhaustion, servant leadership and compliance with standard precautions provides a basis for further patient care. There was no patient or public involvement. Nurses are the key population for hospital infection prevention and control, and their level of compliance with standard precautions is of great significance for hospital infection prevention and control. However, in practice, nurses' compliance with standard precautions is generally low. Most of the previous studies on nurses' compliance with standard precautions were conducted from the perspective of individual nurses, based on the staff's 'knowledge, belief, and action' to study the current status of compliance with standard precautions and the factors affecting adherence, with less attention paid to the influence of psychological, environmental, and organizational factors. Therefore, the study focuses on the impact of servant leadership and emotional exhaustion on standard precautionary adherence, which is of great significance for good care management at the organizational level. It also explored how the impact of servant leadership on emotional exhaustion varies across levels of resilience, which is important for accurately identifying different types of nursing staff and targeting assistance.