Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Crit Care Med. Jun 9, 2023; 12(3): 176-187
Published online Jun 9, 2023. doi: 10.5492/wjccm.v12.i3.176
Knowledge and awareness of infection control practices among nursing professionals: A cross-sectional survey from South Asia and the Middle East
Kanwalpreet Sodhi, Gunjan Chanchalani, Muktanjali Arya, Gentle S Shrestha, Juhi N Chandwani, Manender Kumar, Monika G Kansal, Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman, Anushka D Mudalige, Ashraf Al Tayar, Bassam Mansour, Hasan M Saeed, Madiha Hashmi, Mitul Das, Nehad N Al Shirawi, Ranjan Mathias, Wagih O Ahmed, Amandeep Sharma, Diptimala Agarwal, Prashant Nasa
Kanwalpreet Sodhi, Department of Critical Care, Deep Hospital, Ludhiana 141001, Punjab, India
Gunjan Chanchalani, Critical Care Medicine, Somaiya Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai 400001, Maharashtra, India
Muktanjali Arya, Department of Microbiology and Infection Control, Deep Hospital, Ludhiana 141001, India
Gentle S Shrestha, Department of Critical Care Medicine, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal
Juhi N Chandwani, Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Unit, Royal Hospital, Muscat 112, Oman
Manender Kumar, Department of Cardiac Anaesthesia, Fortis Hospital, Ludhiana 141002, Punjab, India
Monika G Kansal, Intensive Care Medicine, Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, Singapore 609606, Singapore
Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman, Intensive Care Unit, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
Anushka D Mudalige, Intensive Care Unit, Colombo North Teaching Hospital, Ragama 11010, Sri Lanka
Ashraf Al Tayar, Intensive Care Unit and Respiratory Therapy Department, Security Forces Hospital, Damman 34223, Saudi Arabia
Bassam Mansour, Pulmonary and Critical Care Division, Zahraa Hospital-University Medical Center, Beirut 1007, Lebanon
Bassam Mansour, Pulmonary Division, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Lebanese University, Beirut 1007, Lebanon
Hasan M Saeed, Department of Critical Care, Salmaniyah Medical Complex, Manama 323, Bahrain
Madiha Hashmi, Department of Critical Care Medicine, Ziauddin University, Karachi 75530, Pakistan
Mitul Das, Anaesthesia and Critical Care, Swasti Hospital, Rangia 781354, India
Nehad N Al Shirawi, Department of Critical Care Medicine, Al Fujairah Hospital, Fujairah 0000, United Arab Emirates
Ranjan Mathias, Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha 974, Qatar
Wagih O Ahmed, Intensive Care Unit, Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group, Buraidah 52211, Saudi Arabia
Amandeep Sharma, Department of Nursing, Deep Hospital, Ludhiana 141001, India
Diptimala Agarwal, Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Shantived Institute of Medical Sciences, Agra 282007, India
Prashant Nasa, Department of Critical Care Medicine, NMC Specialty Hospital, Dubai 7832, United Arab Emirates
Prashant Nasa, Internal Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Al Ain 15551, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Author contributions: Nasa P, Sodhi K, Arya M, Chanchalani G participated in the acquisition, and interpretation of the data and contributed equally to this work; Sodhi K designed the research and drafted the initial manuscript; Sodhi K and Nasa P, analyzed the data; Nasa P, Arya M, Chanchalani G, Shrestha G, Chandwani J, Kumar M, Kansal MG, Ashrafuzzaman M, Mudalige AD, Al Tayar A, Mansour B, Saeed HM, Hashmi M, Das M, Al Shirawi NN, Mathias R, Ahmed WO, Sharma A, Agarwal D performed the research, were involved in the recruitment of participants from their respective countries, revised the article critically for important intellectual content.
Institutional review board statement: The study was approved by the Ethics Committee (DHEC-2057/2022) of the institute of the principal investigator (KS) and exempted from other participating hospitals, as only healthcare professionals participated in the survey.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, provided informed written consent prior to study enrolment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: GPC reports receiving honorarium for advisory and consultancy services from Pneumocare Health Pvt Ltd. PN reports speaker honorarium from Tabuk Pharmaceuticals and MSD Pharmaceuticals. All other authors declare no competing interest in relation to the contents of this manuscript.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Prashant Nasa, MD, Chief Physician, Department of Critical Care Medicine, NMC Specialty Hospital, Amman Street, Dubai 7832, United Arab Emirates. dr.prashantnasa@hotmail.com
Received: April 14, 2023
Peer-review started: April 14, 2023
First decision: May 9, 2023
Revised: May 15, 2023
Accepted: May 31, 2023
Article in press: May 31, 2023
Published online: June 9, 2023
Abstract
BACKGROUND

The proficiency of nursing professionals in the infection prevention and control (IPC) practices is a core component of the strategy to mitigate the challenge of healthcare associated infections.

AIM

To test knowledge of nurses working in intensive care units (ICU) in South Asia and Middle East countries on IPC practices.

METHODS

An online self-assessment questionnaire based on various aspects of IPC practices was conducted among nurses over three weeks.

RESULTS

A total of 1333 nurses from 13 countries completed the survey. The average score was 72.8% and 36% of nurses were proficient (mean score > 80%). 43% and 68.3% of respondents were from government and teaching hospitals, respectively. 79.2% of respondents worked in < 25 bedded ICUs and 46.5% in closed ICUs. Statistically, a significant association was found between the knowledge and expertise of nurses, the country’s per-capita income, type of hospitals, accreditation and teaching status of hospitals and type of ICUs. Working in high- and upper-middle-income countries (β = 4.89, 95%CI: 3.55 to 6.22) was positively associated, and the teaching status of the hospital (β = -4.58, 95%CI: -6.81 to -2.36) was negatively associated with the knowledge score among respondents.

CONCLUSION

There is considerable variation in knowledge among nurses working in ICU. Factors like income status of countries, public vs private and teaching status of hospitals and experience are independently associated with nurses’ knowledge of IPC practices.

Keywords: Knowledge, Attitude, Policy compliance, Infection control, Infection control practices, Nurses

Core Tip: The knowledge testing on infection prevention and control (IPC) practices among intensive care unit nurses in South Asia and the Middle East showed considerable variation. The higher economic status of the country and working experience were independently associated with better knowledge among respondents. Working in public or teaching hospital were inversely associated with knowledge of IPC practices. There is an urgent need for education and awareness among nurses regarding IPC practices, especially in lower-middle-income countries.