Perceived Knowledge, Attitudinal Trend and Practice level of Nurses on Infection Prevention and Control: Synopsis from an on-going Study

Abstract

Background: Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) remains a fundamental component of healthcare quality and patient safety in Bangladesh (BD). Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) pose a significant threat to patient outcomes globally, particularly in resource-limited settings like BD. Nurses, as primary frontline caregivers, play a pivotal role in the success or failure of IPC measures and compliance. Objective: This preliminary report evaluates the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) of Bangladeshi nurses to identify lacks and gaps in IPC activities and safety protocols in hospitals. Methods: This 6-month-long cross-sectional observational study is being conducted among nurses across a few hospitals located in Dhaka city. Data were collected using a pre-structured, interviewer-administered questionnaire based on established hand hygiene/IPC-guidelines. Results:From our ongoing study, we present here partially (1st 3 months data) for preliminary communication that yields certain professional development gaps, since 98% of participants reportedly never received any IPC training in the last 12 months. Interestingly, while 74% of respondents demonstrated "Good Knowledge" on ICP details, scoring 8–10 points, only 57.5% yielded a "Positive Attitude," but again 71% of them showed "Good Practice". However, we found that the primary barriers to effective practice since 81.5% identified it as due to a lack of supply chain, followed by ~17% being overloaded with heavy workloads &/or tiring-duty hours. Conclusion: Though postgrad nurses possess good knowledge on IPC, a considerable gap exist in their attitudinal trend plausibly due to lack in institutional training on IPC. Our initial findings demand urgent attention to conducting periodic training on IPC to assist in organizing improved resource management to deliver better IPC-practice/ compliance. We recommend better-designed studies on countrywide IPC evaluation involving larger samples and broader coverage.

Medivision J. of Med. and Health Sci. Vol 1(1), Jul 2026; p 68-72