Are Standard Precautions for Hospital-Acquired Infection among Nurses in Public Sector Satisfactory?

Background and Aim: Standard precautions are permitted in delivering the care to all patients in clinical settings to avoid the spread of infection. However, their interventions are grounded on the knowledge of the nurses and the other healthcare workers. The nurses should have satisfactory standard precautions’ knowledge and practice level for hospital acquired infection. The study aimed to evaluate the standard precautions’ knowledge and practice levels among the nurses in the Saudi Arabia private hospitals. Materials and Methods: A cross‑sectional study was performed between March and May 2017 in four hospitals (King Khalid Hospital, Najran General Hospital, Maternal and Child Hospital, and New Najran General Hospital). Data were collected using a validated tool from a convenience sample of 198 nurses. Results: The study showed that 88 (44.4%) had good knowledge while 109 (55.1%) had a fair knowledge of standard precautions. According to their practice, the majority 184 (92.9%) of the participants had good level while 13 (6.6%) had a fair level. Conclusion: The nurses have a good level of knowledge and practice with standard precautions. There is a moderate relationship between knowledge and practice of standard precaution. Nurses should practice standard precautions in their daily routine regardless of the patient diagnosis, updating knowledge, improved specific operational guidelines/policies on the practice of standard precaution, regular supply of infection prevention materials, and routine immunization and screening for the staff against Hepatitis B.