Nurses’ Performance for Prevention of Infection in Burn Unit at Universities Hospitals

Abstract

Infection is one of the main complications among burned patients. Nurses working with such patients must possess competencies and knowledge in order to ensure delivery of quality of care. Aim: assess nurses' performance for prevention of infection in burn unit at Universities Hospitals. Setting: burn units at Ain Shams, El- Monufia, and Cairo University, Egypt. Sample: Purposive sample composed of all nurses (n=50) working three shifts in the previous mentioned setting. Tools: First tool, an interviewing questionnaire designed by the researcher to assess a) socio-demographic data, b) nurses' Knowledge. Second tool, Observational check list to assess nurses’ performance in the burn unit. Results: Half of the studied nurses (50.0 %) were between age 40 years old. More than half (56.0%) of them were females, more than two thirds (66.0%) were married, more than one third (44.0 %) were had technical institute degree, more than one third (36.0%) had experience for 10-20 years and two thirds (60.0%) of them were not attend training courses. There was a statistically significant relation between, age, qualification, years of experiences and attending training course of the studied nurses and their total knowledge (p<0. 05). was a statistically significant relation between age, qualification, years of experiences and attending training course of the studied nurses and their total practices (p<0. 05). Conclusion: More than half of the studied nurses had unsatisfactory knowledge regarding infection control measurements. Also, more than two thirds of the studied nurses had total unsatisfactory performance. Nearly half of nurses show that un availability of hand drying materials, un availability of detergents and disinfectants and un availability of cleaners (Housekeeping) in the unit are the common barriers that affecting the nurses' performance to prevent and control of infection during caring of patients respectively. There is statistically significant positive correlation between total practices and total knowledge of nurses. Recommendations: An in-service training / continuing education must be stressed and provided for nurses working in such critically units. Key words: Nurses' Performance - Prevention of Infection - Burn