Level of Compliance of Staff Nurses in Infection Control Practices in Selected Hospitals in Puerto Princesa City, Philippines
Gloria Vanessa A. Nalica
*
Palawan State University, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Infection control practices and preventing the spread of pathogens are critical to nurses in order to ensure patient safety. By making sure that practices reflect the most recent research on the prevention of diseases, nurses play a crucial role to upkeep the implementation of infection control guidelines. This study aimed to examine the level of compliance to infection control practices of staff nurses in selected Hospitals of Puerto Princesa City. The respondents of the study are n=110 regular staff nurses working in the Pediatric, Ob-gyn, and Medical/Surgical wards. A quantitative descriptive- correlational research design was used, and data were collected through an adopted, self-administered questionnaires. Based on the results, most of the respondents are single and between 20-30 years old and have a clinical experience of one to five years. Most of the respondents are identified to be female and working in medical/surgical ward. For the level of compliance, the data shows that a significant number of staff nurses showed high levels of adherence to all of the infection control practices and no significant associations were found between the compliance and sex or the Unit/area of the demographic profiles of respondents. However, Age has a significant association with respiratory hygiene, indicating that age influences compliance with these practices. In addition, civil status had a significant association with injection safety and respiratory hygiene, implying that marital status or other personal circumstances might influence compliance with these specific practices. Length of service had a significant impact on PPE use, injection safety, and respiratory hygiene, with more experienced healthcare providers potentially showing higher adherence to these protocols. To maintain these standards, continuing education, addressing the issues and gaps, adequate resources must be ensured for proper implementation of the program. The study concludes that while overall compliance is high, targeted interventions considering staff demographic are recommended to sustain and improve IPC standards.
Keywords: Health care associated infection, infection prevention, personal protective equipment, respiratory hygiene