ASSESSMENT OF NURSES' PERFORMANCE RELATED TO CONTROL OF SOME PARASITES ACQUIRED FROM FRESH VEGETABLES AS A PATIENT SAFETY MEASURE IN A MILITARY HOSPITAL

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Military Institute of Health and Epidemiology, The Military Medical Academy, Egypt.

2 The Military Medical Academy, Egypt.

3 Military Institute of Health and Epidemiology and Medical Surgical Nursing, The Military Medical Academy, Egypt.

4 Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11566, Egypt.

Abstract

Foodborne parasitic infection in the hospital constitutes a major health problem particularly for patients who are more vulnerable than healthy subjects to parasitic risks. Parasitic infection represents an area of concern for advanced practice nurse. The work assessed the military nursing staff performance regarding the nosocomial food-borne parasitic infection control. Subjects and Methods: Research design; A descriptive research design was used to identify knowledge, attitudes and practice of nurses related to nosocomial food-borne parasitic infection control measures. Setting: The study was conducted at a general military hospital. Subjects: 50 nurses, the whole available number who covered the inclusion criteria. Data collection tools: It included; (1): Structured interview sheet was constructed after reviewing the relevant literature to elicit information, it included two parts a) subjects' sociodemographic characteristics b) nurses’ knowledge regarding nosocomial parasites infections. (2): Rating scale: to assess attitude of nursing staff towards nosocomial parasites infections and its prevention. (3): Observational Checklist: to assess the nurses’ practice of self-protection and control of nosocomial parasitic infections control measures. Results: A statistically insignificant difference between knowledge levels about nosocomial parasites infection among military nurses. More than half of participant nurses had positive attitude towards nosocomial parasite infection control and prevention without significant difference between all topics (P>0.056). That most participant nurses had unsatisfactory practice to infection control measures with significant lower score for procurement, storage and preparation of raw material followed by personal hygiene (P<0.05). Recommendations: Nurses in all roles and settings can demonstrate leadership in infection prevention and control by using their knowledge, skill and judgment to initiate appropriate and immediate infection control procedures.

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