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Summary Background The main purpose of this web-based survey was to evaluate Jordanian nursing students' knowledge and practice of standard precautions. Methods A cross-sectional, descriptive design was used. Six public and four private Jordanian universities were invited to participate in the study. Approximately, seventeen hundred nursing students in the participating universities were invited via the students' portal on the university electronic system. For schools without an electronic system, students received invitations sent to their personal commercial email. Results The final sample size was 594 students; 65.3% were female with mean age of 21.2 years (SD = 2.6). The majority of the sample was 3rd year students (42.8%) who had no previous experience working as nurses (66.8%). The mean total knowledge score was 13.8 (SD = 3.3) out of 18. On average, 79.9% of the knowledge questions were answered correctly. The mean total practice score was 67.4 (SD = 9.9) out of 80. There was no significant statistical relationship between students' total knowledge and total practice scores (r = 0.09, p = 0.032). Conclusion Jordanian nursing educators are challenged to introduce different teaching modalities to effectively translate theoretical infection control knowledge into safe practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: The training of health workers is a key issue for the prevention of healthcare associated infections. Objectives: To evaluate knowledge of nursing and medical students concerning the prevention of healthcare associated infections. Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting: University hospitals in nine Italian cities. Participants: One thousand four hundred sixty one healthcare students (607 medical students and 854 nursing students). Methods: The study was performed using a questionnaire investigating 3 areas, each having different possible points: standard precautions=12; hand hygiene=8; healthcare associated infections=5, for an overall perfect score of 25. Scores that met a cutoff ≥17.5 were considered to be indicative of an acceptable level of knowledge. Factors associated with an acceptable level of knowledge were analyzed using a logistic regression model. Results: Mean overall score (±SD) was 18.1±3.2. Nursing students (18.6±2.9) obtained a higher overall score than medical students (17.4±3.5) (p<0.001). Weighed scores (±SD) by area were: 10.3 (±2.0) for standard precautions, 5.0 (±1.3) for hand hygiene and 2.8 (±1.1) for healthcare associated infections. Knowledge level concerning the three areas was different between medical and nursing students (p<0.001). The probability of finding acceptable knowledge was smaller for medical students (OR: 0.54 p<0.0001) and for students aged ≥24years (OR: 0.39 p<0.0001). Conclusion: The overall score showed an acceptable level of knowledge for the whole sample; but, considering separately the two curricula, only nursing students reached the minimum acceptable score. It seems important to investigate what is working better in nursing than in medical education in order to implement and validate new teaching approaches. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]