Comparison of knowledge and awareness of infection control practices among nurses in India: A cross-sectional survey

Kanwalpreet Sodhi; Muktanjali Arya; Gunjan Chanchalani; Vandana Sinha; Raymond Dominic Savio; Ajith Kumar Ak; Ahsan Ahmed; Bharat Jagiasi; Diptimala Agarwal; Ganshyam Jagathkar; Ruchira Khasne; Shrikant S Sahasrabudhe; Simant Kumar Jha; Tapas Kumar Sahoo; Vishal Mittal; Hemant Hr; Savika Bansal; Chinmay Agarwal; Manender Kumar

doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2022.02.014

Comparison of knowledge and awareness of infection control practices among nurses in India: A cross-sectional survey

Am J Infect Control. 2022 Dec;50(12):1368-1373. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2022.02.014. Epub 2022 Feb 15.

Authors

Kanwalpreet Sodhi¹, Muktanjali Arya², Gunjan Chanchalani³, Vandana Sinha⁴, Raymond Dominic Savio⁵, Ajith Kumar Ak⁶, Ahsan Ahmed⁷, Bharat Jagiasi⁸, Diptimala Agarwal⁹, Ganshyam Jagathkar¹⁰, Ruchira Khasne¹¹, Shrikant S Sahasrabudhe¹², Simant Kumar Jha¹³, Tapas Kumar Sahoo¹⁴, Vishal Mittal¹⁵, Hemant Hr¹⁶, Savika Bansal¹⁷, Chinmay Agarwal¹⁸, Manender Kumar¹⁹

Affiliations

¹ Director & Head Critical Care, Deep Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab, India. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Head Lab Services and Infection Control, Deep Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab, India.
³ Consultant, Critical Care Medicine, Mumbai, India.
⁴ Department of Critical Care, Ayursundra Superspecialty Hospital, Guwahati, Assam, India.
⁵ Lead Consultant - Critical Care Services, Apollo Proton Cancer Center, Tharamani, Chennai, India.
⁶ Senior Consultant, Intensive Care; Manipal Hospitals, Bangalore-17, India.
⁷ Department of Anaesthesiology, In-Charge, Critical Care, KPC Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
⁸ Department of Critical Care Medicine, Reliance Hospital, Koparkhairne, Navi Mumbai, India.
⁹ Chief Critical Care Services, Shantived Institute of Medical Sciences Agra, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India.
¹⁰ Director Critical Care, Medicover Hospital, Hyderabad, India.
¹¹ Head of Department, Critical Care Medicine, SMBT Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Igatpuri, Nashik, Maharashtra, India.
¹² Director and Head, Department of Pulmonology and Critical Care Medicine, Senior Consultant Intensivist and Chest Physician, MEDICOVER Hospital, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India.
¹³ Department of Critical Care Medicine and Anesthesiology, PSRI, Delhi, India.
¹⁴ Senior Consultant & Head, Critical Care, Medanta Hospital, Ranchi, India.
¹⁵ Consultant, Critical Care Medicine, Ludhiana, Punjab, India.
¹⁶ Senior Consultant and Clinical Lead MSH, Narayana Health City, Bangalore, India.
¹⁷ GMC Patiala, Punjab, India.
¹⁸ FHMC Agra, Satauli, Uttar Pradesh, India.
¹⁹ Consultant, Cardiac Anaesthesia, Hero DMC Heart Institute, Ludhiana, Punjab, India.

PMID: 35181374
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajic.2022.02.014

Abstract

Background: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are a significant threat in healthcare settings. Since nurses have the most day-to-day contact with patients, their knowledge about infection control (IC) practices is crucial in preventing HAIs. We therefore conducted a study to assess the knowledge and awareness of IC practices amongst nurses across hospitals in India.

Methods: An online survey-based, cross-sectional, descriptive study for nurses was conducted in July-August 2021, through a multiple-choice questionnaire, administered via a web-based link across 13 hospitals from various cities of India. Five different aspects of IC knowledge were assessed including general IC, standard precautions, transmission-based precautions, bundle care knowledge, and COVID-19 related knowledge.

Results: Complete data filled by 1,000 nurses was analyzed. The knowledge of nurses varied across different aspects of IC. A statistically significant association was found between the IC knowledge and the years of experience (P = .003) and the area of working (critical vs semi-critical areas) (P < .001) of nurses. A statistically significant difference was also found in the knowledge of nurses from different hospitals depending upon the accreditation (P < .001) and the teaching status (P = .035), but no significant difference based on the city category of hospital (P > .05). Accreditation showed the strongest association {β = 2.499 (95% CI = 1.67-3.32)} while non-teaching status had a negative impact {β = -1.76 (95% CI = 2.543 to -2.543)} on knowledge using multivariate linear regression analysis.

Conclusions: Infection prevention and control is the biggest challenge in any hospital and improving the knowledge and awareness of the nurses on the same is fundamental to its success. A multifaceted approach of continuing education programs, training, and feedback should be undertaken towards improving the awareness and compliance to IC practices.

Keywords: COVID-19; Care bundles; Infection control; Knowledge of nurses; Standard precautions; Transmission-based precautions.

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / prevention & control
Cross Infection* / prevention & control
Cross-Sectional Studies
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Humans
Infection Control
Surveys and Questionnaires