Abstract:
Background: The prevention of healthcare-associated infections is central
to the provision of safe, high-quality healthcare. Students are a part of the
healthcare team and are at increased risk of these infections. This study
seeks to assess Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs) prevention practices
among medical students in a Teaching Hospital in Jos, Plateau State,
Nigeria.
Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study done in July 2019
among medical students using a Multistage sampling technique. Data was
collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire and analyzed
using the IBM SPSS 28 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences).
Results: Almost all (99.1%) of students claim that they wash their hands
before and after seeing patients, 81.9% wash their hands before meals,
57.4% wash their hands before performing invasive bedside procedures,
72.7% wash before and after examining patients, 30.2% wash their hands
before &after touching wounds, but not when gloved, 63.9% wash their
hands between two different procedures on different patients. Concerning
wearing face/nose masks 86.8% said they wore masks when transporting
coughing patients out of the ward, 70.3% stated that they wore masks
when irrigating septic wounds, 60.7% said they wore face masks whenever
they were attending to patients with fecal incontinence, 76.3% said they
wore face mask whenever they were delivering a baby of an HIV Positive
woman., 51.6% said they wore face mask whenever they were visiting
neonatal intensive care unit. The majority of respondents (83.6%) have never
sustained a needle stick injury before, main reasons for non-use of PPE
include High cost (24.7), PPE Not available (951.1%), difficulty in using
(15.1%), No reason (9.1%).
Conclusion: Generally, more than a third 150 (68.5%) of respondents had
good practice of HAI prevention, while 69 (31.55) had a poor practice of
HAIs prevention. There is also a need to ensure that the availability of
PPEs, hand washing and waste disposal equipment is ensured, while medical
students are also taught the importance of good equipment hygiene.
