Effectiveness of Protocol on Standard Precautions for the Prevention of Infections in Terms of Practice among Staff Nurses working in Tertiary Care Hospital, Bhubaneswar, Odisha

Abstract

Nosocomial infection in the severe care unit (ICU) is connected with enlarged mortality, morbidity and span of stay. It is defined as contamination that begins 48 hours after charge to hospital. The commonest types are ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI), catheter-related urinary tract infection (CAUTI) and surgical site infection (SSI). The common pathogens include Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella species. Antimicrobial resistance is increasing and has emerged from selective pressure from antibiotic use and transmission via health workers. Prevention of infection is fundamental and can be achieved through good antimicrobial use and infection control, including hand hygiene. Grouped, easy-to-follow best practice activities called ‘Care bundles’ have been developed to prevent VAP,CLABSI,CAUTI and SSI.
The study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of protocol on standard precaution for the prevention of infection in terms of practice among staff nurses working in Tertiary care hospital at Bhubaneswar. Aim of the study was to know the effectiveness of protocols in terms of gain in posttest level of practice scores. A pre-experimental research design was used for the present study. The sample consisted of 60 staff nurses working in ICU who met the inclusion criteria. The sample was selected by Convenience sampling technique. The data was obtained by Socio-demographic tool and observation check-list. Data was analyzed by descriptive statistics and paired‘t’ test. The mean of Post-practice level (X1= 23.28) was apparently higher than the mean of Pre-practice level (X2= 21.43). Paired‘t’ test was found to be highly significant. The significant difference between mean pre-practice and post-practice level was significant t = 6.728 at degrees of freedom 59 and the corresponding p value is 0.000(<0.05). Hence it was concluded that Protocols on standard precautions is effective in improving practices of staff nurses.