Paramedical staff's knowledge, attitude, and performance about nosocomial infection controls at hospitals: A cross-sectional survey in Iran

Background: Nosocomial infections usually occur 48 hours after admission to the hospital or up to 72 hours after discharge from the hospital. They lead to an increase in mortality and health costs. The purpose of this study is to measure the knowledge, attitude, and performance of paramedical staff about nosocomial infection control.

Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Tehran hospitals in 2019. A valid and reliable questionnaire was used to collect data. The questionnaires were distributed among 405 randomly selected paramedical staff at 25 hospitals in Tehran. The data were analyzed using SPSS18.

Results: The mean scores of paramedical staff's knowledge, attitude, and performance in terms of nosocomial infection control were 11.2 ± 2.2 (good), 21.7 ± 3.7 (good), and 49.2 ± 9.4 (good) respectively. A statistically significant relationship was obtained between paramedical staff's work experience and type of hospital and their knowledge, attitude, and performance in terms of nosocomial infection control (P <0.05). In addition, a statistically significant relationship was found between gender, age, education, and, employment type and nosocomial infection control performance (P <0.05).

Conclusions: The knowledge, attitude, and performance of paramedical staff about nosocomial infections in Tehran hospitals were good. Education, continuous supervision, and provision of the necessary equipment are needed for improving the paramedical staff's knowledge, attitude, and performance in terms of nosocomial infections.