Performance of Healthcare workers regarding Infection Control Precautions in Primary Health Care Centers

Abstract

Background: Standard precautions are designed to protect healthcare staff from risks resulting from exposure to blood and body fluids and to protect patients from potential cross-infection. Knowledge of clinical infection control practices is continually growing and changing. The study aimed to assess healthcare workers’ performance regarding infection control precautions in primary healthcare centers. Research design: a descriptive-analytical design was used. Subjects: a simple random sample of a total of 379 healthcare workers was recruited from January to March 2022, at selected primary healthcare centers, in Jeddah, KSA according to a large number of healthcare workers. Tools of data collection: three tools were used to collect data: a structured self-administered healthcare workers' questionnaire, an observational checklist, and an environmental assessment checklist. Results: The results revealed that 44.6% of the studied participants had an average level of total knowledge, whereas 58.6% of them had incompetent practice regarding infection control precautions. Moreover, there was a highly statistically significant positive linear correlation between total healthcare workers' knowledge about infection control precautions in primary healthcare centers and their practice at (r = 0.317, and p =0.000). In conclusion, Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that more than one-third of healthcare workers in the current study had average overall knowledge scores, while more than one-half of them had incompetent practice regarding infection control precautions. A highly statistically significant positive linear correlation between total healthcare workers' knowledge about infection control precautions in primary healthcare centers and their practice was pointed up. Recommendations: A mandatory regular base educational program must be planned to overcome the weak level of knowledge and update the practice regarding infection control standard precautions.