Assessment of Knowledge and Practices of Standard Precaution against Blood Borne Pathogens among Doctors and Nurses at Adult Emergency Room in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Standard precautions are infection control techniques against pathogenic microorganisms that are present in human blood and can cause disease in humans. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to assess knowledge and practice of standard precautions against blood borne pathogens among doctors and nurses in adult emergency room, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. METHODS: Institutional based cross sectional study was conducted from February to March 2018. A total of 128 study participants selected from four public hospitals were enrolled in this study. Data were collected using standardized pretested questionnaire and thencoded, entered, checked for completeness, and analyzed using SPSS version-23 statisticalsoftware. Chi-square test was used to measure the association between variables. P values <0.05 were taken as statistically significant. RESULT: The mean knowledge score of standard precaution measures was 10.3 out of 14 knowledge items. Out of 32 doctors, 93.8% (n=30) have good knowledge and out of 91 nurses, 86.8% (n=79) have good knowledge. The mean practice level of the study subjects was 8.5 out of 12 practice items. Majority (73.6%) of nurses have good practice level than doctors (21.8%). Knowledge level was significantly associated with the presence of infection control officer, infection control guideline, and washing hands before touching patients. Profession, training, and the presence of infection control guideline in emergency room were significantly associated with practice level of respondents (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Both nurses and doctors have good knowledge of standard precaution measures. However, nurses have better practice level than doctors. Orientation during employment and continuous training programs should be provided for the newly employed health workers. In addition sustainable supply systems should be available in each hospital management.