The Relationship between Nurses’ Knowledge and Application of Standard Precautions in Hospitals of Babylon Province/Iraq

Abstract

Introduction: Hospital-acquired infection (HAI) is one of the most frequent issues that hospitals are facing in every country worldwide. Since nurses are an essential part of the medical workforce that they play a special role in preventing the transmission of infections within hospitals. Objective: This study aims to determine the relationship between nurses’ knowledge and application. Methodology: a cross-sectional study that includes 400 nurses from eight hospitals of Babylon governorate. An interview questionnaire used to assess the knowledge and application levels. Data were collected during the period between September 2022 and March 2023 and these data were analyzed by SPSS27. Results: the main results showed that 56.3% of nurses had high level of knowledge about standard precautions. While 51.5% of participants had poor application about standard precautions. a significant positive relationship was found between nurses' level of knowledge and their level of application (P value <0.01; r=0.180) . Conclusion: standard precautions are the minimum required for infection prevention. In spite of that most of nurses had high level of knowledge, the majority of study participant didn’t always follow these precautions. the level of application positively correlate with level of knowledge.