KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF INFECTION CONTROL AMONG MIDWIVES

KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF INFECTION CONTROL AMONG MIDWIVES

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 The Background of the Study 

The World Health Organization’s 2013 health profile data shows that infection-related disorders continue to be the leading cause of mortality in Nigeria (WHO, 2013). Infectious diseases, respiratory infections, tuberculosis, malaria, and other similar conditions make up a large portion of Nigeria’s disease burden.

The rising number of infections in the nation has prompted a corresponding growth in efforts to prevent and control their spread. As a result of the rise in infection-related diseases, the Nigerian government has increased its spending on health care by 57.5% beyond what was originally planned (WHO, 2014).

Hospitals have become typical places for the transmission of diseases due to the admission of infectious patients. The spread of infectious diseases in healthcare facilities can occur through contaminated patients, staff, and visitors (Sydnor & Perl, 2011).

As a result of worse health outcomes and longer hospital stays, nosocomial infections (HAIs) are a major economic burden (WHO, 2015). A patient is said to have contracted an illness while receiving treatment at a healthcare institution if the infection was not present or incubating when they were admitted, as stated by the World Health Organisation (2010).

Infections that manifest more than two days after hospital admission but less than ten days after release are considered these (Collins 2008:2). Highly pathogenic organisms, such as Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenic, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aureginosa, and hepatitis viruses, have colonised hospital environments as a result of patients bringing in various pathogens.

From relatively harmless skin infections to potentially fatal situations like sepsis, these microbes are responsible for a wide spectrum of illnesses (Sydnor, & Perl, 2011).

The Nigerian Ministry of Health has warned that the current Ebola epidemic poses a threat to public health, especially as surrounding countries are already experiencing its devastating effects.

One possible factor in lowering the hospital infection incidence is nurses’ ability to effectively prevent and manage infections by the use of their knowledge, attitude, and best practices.

In order to comply with Nigeria’s health policy, medical facilities must ensure their patients’ safety. Because of their essential role in infection prevention and control, hospital nurses may either amplify the spread of infections or help to keep them under control. Damani (2012) states that in order to minimise the danger of infection transmission, the nursing environment must be carefully designed.

To ensure that susceptible patients do not contract an infection while receiving medical treatment, infection prevention and control measures are put in place (Damani, 2012).

It is possible for hospital-acquired illnesses to occur when nurses do not have enough training, have negative attitudes, and do not follow best practices for infection control and prevention.

The study’s author has seen nurses in action who engage in practices such as not washing their hands frequently enough, putting needles in patients’ mattresses after injecting them, not cleaning the stethoscope between patients, and handling contaminated linens with bare hands. The prevalence of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) is correlated with nurses’ lax approach to infection prevention and control.

All healthcare facilities should make hand hygiene a quality standard since it is the most effective intervention to stop the spread of infections. A higher incidence of hospital-acquired infections can be caused by healthcare workers who do not believe in the importance of hand hygiene.

The majority of medical and nursing students in an Indian study evaluated by Nair, Hanumantappa, Hinemath, Siraj, and Raghunath (2013:3) had inadequate knowledge about the importance of hand hygiene when it came to their attitudes, practices, and knowledge of the topic.

The prevalence of HAIs can be heightened when nurses do not possess sufficient expertise. Tirivanhu, Ancia, and Petronella (2014:73) found that nurses at the Bindura provincial hospital in Zimbabwe faced several obstacles while trying to implement infection prevention and control procedures.

This lends credence to their findings. With just 14 nurses (28%) out of 50 (100%) having great knowledge on infection control principles and 21 nurses (42%) not using the infection control manuals, the study showed that most nurses lack understanding on these principles. Since 68% of nurses did not go to any training on infection prevention and control methods, it may be said that the workshops were inadequately structured (Tirivanhu et al., 2014).

Medical staff at Ridge Regional Hospital in Accra, Ghana, were the subjects of an evaluation of infection prevention and control (IPC) procedures by Hayeh and Esena (2013:47).

With 58% (n=118) having access to resources for IPC practices at the facility and 54% (n=110) generally complying with IPC standards, the survey found that health care workers’ understanding of IPC procedures was modest (n= 204).

In light of the researcher’s experiences and the fact that there was an uptick in wound infections among patients who underwent surgery at this particular tertiary hospital in Nigeria, the World Health Organisation (2016) has designated surgical site infections as a top research priority.

Consequently, the purpose of this research was to assess the level of understanding, perspective, and action among nurses working in infection control and prevention at a Nigerian tertiary hospital.

1.2 Statement Of The Problem

When there is a lack of information necessary for nursing practice, this is known as a research dilemma (Burns & Grove 2011:146). According to the study’s findings, nurses fail to implement necessary hospital-wide infection prevention and control protocols.

According to Jain, Dogra, Mishra, Thaku and loomba (2012) and Hayeh and Esena (2013), a significant number of hospital-acquired illnesses can be attributed to a lack of understanding, mindset, and actions around infection prevention and control.

The country’s health care budget takes a hit when uncontrollable nosocomial infections cause patients to stay in the hospital longer, suffer from more serious illnesses, and even die (Mishta, Banerjee & Gosain, 2014).

1.3 Research Questions

What is the current state of health care workers’ understanding, mindset, and behaviour about infection prevention and control in Miaduguri?

1.4 The Aim of the Study

Finding out what nurses in Maiduguri know, think, and do about infection prevention and control is the goal of the study, which will help answer the research question.

1.5 Objectives of the Study

The following are the focus of the research that will be examined in light of the purpose:

1.Information on infection prevention and control among midwives in Miaduguri.

2.The attitude of midwife in infection prevention and control in Maiduguri.

3.The practices of midwife in infection prevention and control in Maiduguri

The fourth objective is to advise the Maiduguri risk program and policies