A study on prevalence of practice of universal precautions among health care workers in medical college, Jhansi (U.P)

Abstract

Following Universal Precautions are the most important measure to prevent nosocomial infection. Because of the environment in which health care workers (HCWs) work, they are at an increased risk of nosocomial infection. Assess the prevalence of practice of Universal Precautions (UPs), use of personal protective equipment and perceived barrier to compliance with UPs among HCWs. Hospital based cross sectional study was conducted during July to October 2014 among HCWs in Medical College, Jhansi. 100 HCWs were selected by simple random sampling. The collected data was entered in M.S Excel and analyzed in SPSS 16 trial version. Chisquare test was used for comparing the proportion and statistical significance was taken at P value <0.05. Study shows that nurses have an overall low level of correct knowledge about the use of UPs as compared to doctors. In the study 62% of HCWs were following UPs. Perceived barriers to compliance with UPs are too busy to use personal protective equipments (PPEs), not using PPEs as colleagues do not use it. Multifaceted approach promoting positive perception of UPs compliance should include training (initial and periodic), adequate supply of post- exposure prophylaxis, provision of hepatitis B vaccination.