Attitude and compliance of nurses to standard precautions to infection control in Ekiti State, Southwest Nigeria

Abstract

The attitude and compliance to standard precautions (SP) by nurses have been recognized as efficient and effective means to prevent and control infections among patients and healthcare workers. This study investigated nurses’ attitude and compliance to standard precautions in tertiary hospitals in Ekiti State, Southwest Nigeria. A cross-sectional, descriptive research designs using purposive sampling techniques were used. Adapted and standardized instruments were used to elicit information from 137 nurses. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Participants’ age was between 21 and 62 years, with a mean age of 33.54± 9.41 years;  85.4% were females; while the majority had five to ten years working experience. Participants had poor attitude toward SP, but with good  compliance (96.6%). All participants (100%) had good compliance with the use of personnel protective equipment, while most had good  compliance with hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, safety injection practice, clean environment, and sterilization of instruments. The  ward/unit allocation of the nurses had a significant positive effect (R= 0.225, p= 0.008) on compliance with respiratory hygiene. Hence,  sensitization programs should be intensified to ensure that health workers understand and comply with infection control through the use  of SP.