Comparison of Knowledge, Attitude and Function of Nurses with Nursing Students about Hospital-Acquired Infection (HAI) Control in Sarab`s Imam Khomeini Medical Education Center at 2020

Nosocomial infections occur as a result of the patient staying in the hospital and it is one of the most important social, economic and medical problems in different countries. The health care team especially nurses have an important role in the control of HAI. The purpose of this study was to compare the knowledge, attitude and function of nurses and nursing students about HAI control in Sarab`s Imam Khomeini medical education center.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 135 nurses and 135 nursing students in Sarab`s Imam Khomeini medical education center at 2020 who were selected with available sampling. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire for assessing awareness, attitude and function of the target community regarding the control of hospital infections. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 19 software and descriptive statistical methods such as mean and standard deviation and inferential methods including t-test, Spearman correlation coefficient and Analysis of variance.

The mean scores of knowledges of nurses (9.6±3.51) were higher than students (9.1±4.10) and both were at a weak level. Also, the average scores of attitudes (41.32±6.52) and function (46.53±2.99) of nurses were higher than the mean scores of students' attitude (39.70±5.79) and function (43.83±2.57), indicating the average attitude and function of students and nurses.

Due to the importance of controlling nosocomial infections, in addition to educating nurses in the form of in-service training programs during the study period, more focus should be placed on teaching topics related to compliance with nosocomial infection standards.