GAPS IN KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES REGARDING NOSOCOMIAL INFECTIONS AMONG NURSING STAFF OFA TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL OF RAWALPINDI

Objective: To assess the gap in knowledge and practices regarding the nosocomial infections among nursing staff of Military Hospitals of Rawalpindi. Study Design: Cross-sectional analytical study. Place and Duration of Study: A 2500 bedded Military Hospital affiliated with National University of Medical Sciences and study duration was one year, from Jan 2018 to Dec 2018. Methodology: A structured pre-tested questionnaire was given to 377 participants which consisted of nursing staff and nursing assistants. Study was started after getting approval from the ethical committee. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 25. Results: Study participants consisted of 66.8% males and 33.2% females. The mean age of study participants was 26.99 ± 5.79 years. Median work experience of our study population was 4 years ranging from 1 to 33 years. The mean knowledge score of our study population was 79.94 ± 20.67 with male participants having better knowledge than their female counterparts (p-value=0.011). The practices of our study population were poor with mean score of 59.31 ± 16.5. Female participants (62.24 ± 17.68) though had better practices then male participants (57.86 ± 15.72) with statistically significant difference (p-value=0.015). Conclusion: Healthcare workers were found to have adequate knowledge regarding hospital acquired infections, but their prevention practices were not in line with their knowledge and not satisfactory.