An investigation into nursing students' application of infection prevention and control precautions

Abstract

Background: Undergraduate education of Health Care Workers is pivotal to ensuring that frontline clinicians have appropriate knowledge and skills in Infection Prevention and Control (IPC).

Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe undergraduate nursing students' self-reported compliance with Standard Precautions and to explore the psychosocial factors that influence adherence in clinical practice.

Design: A cross-sectional survey design was used.

Setting: The study was conducted in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at an Australian University.

Participants: All undergraduate nursing students were invited to participate in an online survey; 321 participated, mean age 25.7 years (SD = 8.4). The majority, 196 (61%), had no healthcare work experience, 54 (17%) were patient-care assistants, 40 (13%) enrolled nurses, and 31 (9%) were nurses registered overseas.

Methods: Two validated instruments were used: the Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale (CSPS) and the Factors Influencing Adherence to Standard Precautions Scale- Student version (FIASPS-SV). Linear regression was used to measure the impact of psychosocial factors on self-reported compliance.

Results: Overall self-reported compliance with prevention of cross-infection was 83%, use of Personal Protective Equipment (81%), correct disposal of sharps (83%) and general waste (75%), and equipment decontamination (69%). The predominant factors endorsed on the FIASPS-SV were 'Leadership' (M = 15.21 SD = 5.28) and 'Contextual cues' (M = 19.09 SD = 6.37). Multivariate linear regression demonstrated that after adjusting for age, gender and years of nursing study, the Leadership factor predicted participants' self-reported compliance on the 'prevention of cross-infection' (p < .001), 'use of PPE' (p < .001), 'waste disposal' (p = .021), and 'decontamination of equipment' (p < .001) sub-domains of the CSPS.

Conclusions: These findings highlight that strong clinical leadership and role modelling are essential to ensure all healthcare students prioritise rigorous adherence with infection prevention and control guidelines.

Keywords: Adherence; Cross-sectional studies; Infection control; Leadership; Nursing education; Standard precautions.

Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.