Background:
Personal protective equipment (PPE) encompasses a range of equipment designed
to safeguard healthcare workers and patients from potential risks during
healthcare activities. These risks could include exposure to infectious agents,
harmful chemicals, and other hazardous materials. The ensemble of PPE
comprises items such as gloves, masks, gowns, goggles, and face shields, each serving a specific purpose in mitigating risks. The proper utilization of PPE serves as a crucial strategy for mitigating the transmission of infections within healthcare settings, thereby minimizing the risk of both healthcare-associated infections and community spread. PPE plays an indispensable role in reducing the risk of disease transmission. In this study we tried to explore and assess the knowledge, attitude
and practice of healthcare professionals regarding use of Personal protective equipment (PPE ) .
Methods:
A cross sectional study was conducted at NWTH and NWGH ( a private sector tertiary healthcare hospital ) and HMC ( a public sector tertiary care hospital )from March to June .Data was collected from 260 healthcare workers i.e Doctors and Nurses from both institutions through a preformed questionnaire containing a total of 27 questions ( 8 questions about knowledge , 9 questions about attitude and 10 questions about practice among Doctors and Nurses on use of PPE A simple 1-point scale was used to assess the knowledge level, a 5-point Likert scale was used to assess attitude level and a simple 1-point scale was used to assess the practice level of Doctors and Nurses on use of PPE.
Results:
The mean knowledge score for doctors was 6.8 (SD=1.2) while for nurses it was 6.3(SD=1.4).There was no significant association between the profession and the knowledge level of the participants (p= 0.16), and association between gender and knowledge was also non significant (p= 0.08).There was slight positive correlation between increasing years of practice and knowledge regarding PPE (Pearson correlation = 0.017)
The mean attitude score for doctors was 35 while for nurses were almost similar (35.7).There was no significant association between the profession and attitude level of the participants. (p= 0.49) and association between gender and attitude was also non significant (p= 0.56).There was slight positive correlation between increasing years of practice and attitude (Pearson correlation = 0.035) The mean practice score for doctors was 7.4 while for nurses were almost similar (7.74).There was no significant association between the profession and practice level of the participants. (p= 0.45) and association between gender and practice was also non significant (p= 0.82).There was positive correlation with increasing
years of practice and practice of PPE (Pearson correlation=0.147) and there was also significant association (0.018) between increasing years of practice and practice of PPE.
Conclusion:
Overall knowledge level (83.3%) of healthcare professionals was good. The mean score in knowledge was 6.67 (maximum possible: 8).
93 (35.8%) scored a perfect 8 out of 8 in knowledge. 62(23.8%) scored 7 out of 8, 50(16.2%) scored 6 out of 8, while the other 24.2 percent scored 5 or lower. Overall attitude level was 78.3% among doctors and nurses on from both institutions. The mean score in attitude was 35.26 (maximum possible: 45) . 38 (14.6%) scored 25 to 30 in attitude, 104 (40%) scored 31 to 35 , 76 (29.2%) scored 36 to 40, while the other 42 (16.2 percent) scored 41 to 45.Overall practice was 75.2% among doctors and nurses from both institutions .The mean score in practice was 7.51 (maximum possible: 10) . 37 (14.2%) scored a perfect 10 out of 10 in practice. 43(16.5%) scored 9 out of 10, 58(22.3%) scored 8 out of 10,48 (18.5) scored 7 out of 10 ,42 (16.2%) scored 6 out of 10 while the other 32 ( 12.3% ) percent scored 5 or lower.
© 2024 All rights reserved