Knowledge, attitude and adherence to infection control guidelines among staff nurses in intensive care unit of two private hospitals in Iloilo City

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the knowledge about, attitude towards infection control and adherence to infection control guidelines among ICU staff nurses in selected hospitals in Iloilo City, their inter-relationships and relationships with the personal characteristics, like sex, age, years of service and attendance in health-related seminars of ICU staff nurses. This descriptive-relational type of research utilized the one-shot survey design and collected data from all the 57 staff nurses in the ICU of selected hospitals using a validated and pre-tested instrument prepared by the researcher based on the objectives and the data to be gathered in the study. Permission to conduct the study was secured from the Hospital Directors and Nursing Service Officers prior to the administration of instruments and ethical considerations. Data were processed electronically using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Statistical analysis was both descriptive; using frequency distribution and means whenever possible; Phi, Cramer’s V and Gamma for the relational analysis. Findings revealed that the ICU staff nurses are generally female, with a mean age of 26.49 years, have been serving the hospital for a mean of 3.19 years, and have attended an average of 1.4 health-related trainings. They generally have high level of knowledge about infection control, highly positive attitude towards infection control and high level of adherence to infection control guidelines. The personal characteristics of the ICU staff nurses such as sex, age, years of service in the hospital and attendance in training were not related to knowledge about infection control, attitude towards infection control and adherence to infection control guidelines. The level of knowledge of ICU staff nurses about infection control, on the other hand, is related to their attitude towards infection control as well as to their adherence to infection control guidelines. The attitude of ICU staff nurses towards infection control is also related to their adherence to infection control guidelines.