Improving knowledge and compliance with infection control Standard Precautions among undergraduate nursing students in Jordan

INTRODUCTION: The recent emergence and reemergence of infectious diseases have made the knowledge and practice of standard infection control precautions in developing countries more important than ever. However, schools of nursing in Jordan do not have a prescribed curriculum in Standard Precautions. PURPOSE: To test the effectiveness of using of an online education module and a learning contract on knowledge and compliance with infection control Standard Precautions among undergraduate nursing students in Jordan. METHODS: A sample of 256 undergraduate nursing students participated in an online education module in infection control Standard Precautions. A pretest–posttest design tested effectiveness using an online questionnaire (Questionnaires for Knowledge and Compliance with Standard Precautions) before and after the online instruction. RESULTS: Initially, subjects reported low levels of knowledge and compliance with Standard Precaution practices and relatively few (15.2%) had high scores. Compliance with Standard Precautions was somewhat better (27%). Significant differences in the mean scores of knowledge and compliance between pretest and posttest were found. CONCLUSION: Online instruction offers a consistent and effective method to include Standard Precautions into nursing education. Organizations that oversee nursing in Jordan have the option to strengthen all nursing curricula by mandating a standardized infection control curricula across all schools of nursing.