Impact of designed infection control educational program on nurses' knowledge and compliance with standard precautions at maternity hospitals

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the nurses' knowledge and compliance with infection control standard precautions and evaluate the impact of the designed infection control educational program on nurses' knowledge and compliance with standard precautions at the maternity hospital. Materials and Methods: A quasi-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design was used on convenient sample of 60 nurses working at Obstetrics and Gynecological hospital in Cairo University Hospital, Kasr El Ainy, who received “designed infection control educational program” for 6 months. The data were collected through the questionnaire comprising demographics, knowledge, and compliance with standard precautions questionnaire. The nurses' knowledge and compliance score were compared before and after intervention. Results: The studied nurses had higher level of knowledge (85.3%) and compliance (92.8%) regarding infection control standard precautions after the educational program compared to before the program. The results revealed statistically significant difference between before and after the program regarding nurses' knowledge score (15.5 ± 2.9 vs. 17.1 ± 1.6, P < 0.001) and compliance score (58.5 ± 13.2 vs. 74.3 ± 5.1, P < 0.001). In addition, there was insignificant relation between nurses' knowledge and compliance with standard precautions both before (r = 0.952, P = 0.474) and after educational program (r = 0.164, P = 0.223). Conclusion: The nurses' level of knowledge and compliance regarding infection control standard precautions was significantly improved after the program. Therefore, it is recommended that periodical educational programs regarding the standard precautions of infection control are essential for nurses at maternity hospital.