PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES AMONG NURSES

Introduction: Health care professionals and patients are at high risk to be exposed to potentially infected blood and body fluids that can lead to serious or even lethal infections. Objectives: The main objective of the study is to analyse the personal protective equipment knowledge and practices among nurses. Material and methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in The Children's Hospital and Institute of Child Health, Lahore during 2019 to 2020. The study population were nurses working in medical, surgical, maternity and pediatric wards, who had worked for a minimum period of six months. The study targeted nurses since they are amongst the healthcare providers who are in majority and are involved in a number of nursing activities which render them at risk of acquiring and transmitting HAIs. Results: A total of 185 nurses consented and the response rate, adjusted for non-delivery of questionnaires, was 92.5%. Regarding the correlation of PPE with the demographic characteristics of respondent nurses as shown in table, there is strong evidence of positive relationship [p – value of (0.024, 0.043, 0.001, 0.030)] between awareness of the respondents with PPE as an effective barrier for infection control and their gender, age, education and work experience respectively. Conclusion: It is concluded that nurses had excellent knowledge with and appropriate use of PPE as vital in safeguarding the HCWs and spread of infection.