Journal of Community Medicine & Health Education
Open Access

Research Article

Assessment of Knowledge and Practice on Infection Prevention among Health Care Workers at Dessie Referral Hospital, Amhara Region, South Wollo Zone, North East Ethiopia

Alemayehu R¹, Ahmed K² and Sada O^3*

¹Principal Investigator, Addis Ababa University, Addid Ababa, Ethiopia

²Department of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Wollo University, Ethiopia

³ Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addid Ababa, Ethiopia

*Corresponding Author:

Oumer Sada
Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacy
School of Pharmacy, College of Health Sciences
Addis Ababa University
Addid Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251922861355
E-mail: oumer.sada@gmail.com

Received date: October 18, 2016; Accepted date: November 08, 2016; Published date: December 09, 2016

Citation: Alemayehu R, Ahmed K, Sada O (2016) Assessment of Knowledge and Practice on Infection Prevention among Health Care Workers at Dessie Referral Hospital, Amhara Region, South Wollo Zone, North East Ethiopia. J Community Med Health Educ 6: 487. doi: 10.4172/2161-0711.1000487

Copyright: © 2016 Alemayehu R, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Background: A large fraction of the world’s illness and death is attributable to communicable diseases. Sixty-two percent and 31% of all deaths in Africa and Southeast Asia, respectively, are caused by infectious disease. An infection prevention and control measure ensures the protection of those who are vulnerable to acquiring an infection in the general community. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess infection prevention knowledge and practice among health care workers at Dessie Referral Hospital, Amhara region, South Wollo, North East Ethiopia, June 2016. Methods: Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted in Dessie Referral Hospital from February 2016 -June 2016. Simple random sampling technique was used to collect data from health care workers. Pre-tested and structured questionnaire was used to collect data from randomly selected health care workers at Selam Hospital using 5% of the sample size and necessary amendments were made. Proportions, tables and graphs were used to summarize the collected data. Each filled questionnaire was checked for its completeness, accuracy and consistency. Result: The study was done on 208 healthcare workers with respondent rate of 208(100%). All respondents 208(100%) knew about personal protective equipment. Among respondent 182(87.5%) of health care workers knew use of an alcohol based antiseptic for hand hygiene is as effective as soap and water. All of the respondents 208(100%) used glove and had gown. Nearly all of respondents 205(98.6%) told that they wash hands with antiseptics/soap after work. Conclusion and Recommendation: Generally, the results of this study revealed that 198(95.19%) of health care workers at Dessie Referral Hospital had good knowledge and 182(87.5%) had good practice of infection prevention. Less than one fourth of health care workers (17.7%) were trained on infection prevention. Strengthening the knowledge of HCW (Health Care Workers) and giving training on infection prevention practice for HCW is recommended.

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