European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Background: The frequency of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), which can affect up to 15% of hospitalized patients and 9%-37% of patients referred to intensive care units (ICUs), is a significant issue for the healthcare system.1 Healthcare organizations must prioritize HAI prevention.2-5 Effective infection prevention and control (IPC) depends on healthcare workers knowledge of infection control (IC) practices, and poor knowledge and awareness among HCWs have been associated to deteriorating healthcare delivery results. Objectives: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of infection control practices followed by nurses in their day to day procedures in Government General Hospital Vijayawada. Material & Methods: Study Design: A prospective hospital based descriptional study. Study area:  Government general Hospital Vijayawada. Study Period: February 2023 – July 2023. (6 months) Study population:  Staff nurses who are working in all wards of Government General Hospital Vijayawada. Sample size:  The study consisted of 91 subjects. Sampling method: Simple random technique. Study tools and Data collection procedure: A direct method approach was employed, consisting of a cross-sectional survey through questionnaire in Google sheets. The survey questionnaire was distributed among a representative sample of nurses across various departments within the hospital. The survey encompassed questions related to knowledge of IPC guidelines, hand hygiene practices, personal protective equipment (PPE) utilization, environmental cleaning routines, and perceptions of organizational support for IPC. Results: With regard to indications for hand rub, 51.6 % staff nurses opted and agreed that when your hands are not visibly soiled which is the correct answer and 27.5 % answered instead of traditional handwashing (20 sec) ,16.5% answered that instead of surgical hand washing (3min), remaining 4.4% answered when your hands are visibly soiled. Overall KAP status of the study population was excellent in 53.8%. 46.2% of the study population were having good KAP status. No subjects were in the group of average or poor KAP status. Conclusion: The largest difficulty in any hospital is infection prevention and control, and nurses' knowledge and understanding of this topic must be improved if it is to be successful. To increase understanding and compliance with IC practices, a multimodal strategy should be used, including training, feedback, and ongoing education programmes.