An interdisciplinary infection control education intervention: necessary but not sufficient

Impact of Educational Intervention on Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Laboratory Technicians regarding Universal Work Precautions at a Tertiary Health Care Center in Central India

Introduction:

Laboratory technicians are routinely exposed to occupational health hazards that can be a serious threat to their health. To safeguard themselves against laboratory-acquired infections, they must be aware of universal work precautions. A targeted educational intervention to increase awareness about universal precautions was designed to result in behavioral changes in attitudes and practices to help reduce the incidence of laboratory-acquired infections. This study was planned to assess the preexisting levels of knowledge, attitudes, and practices of laboratory technicians regarding universal work precautions at a tertiary care hospital in central India and to evaluate the effectiveness of educational interventions on the same.

Method:

The 40 lab technicians participating in the study were subjected to educational interventions in the form of training on universal precautions. Pretest and posttest evaluations using questionnaires were conducted to evaluate the learning gain. Pretest and posttest responses to each question were compared using the Pearson chi-square test. The subjects’ mean pretest and posttest scores were compared using paired t tests, and the significance level was set at .05.

Results:

There was remarkably significant improvement in knowledge, attitudes, and practices of laboratory technicians regarding universal work precautions after the educational intervention/training sessions.

Conclusion:

On the basis of the findings, it was suggested that such training sessions should be conducted regularly for laboratory technicians to help in better retention of knowledge and to instill a positive attitude toward universal precautions.

Patient safety and infection control: bases for curricular integration

OBJECTIVE

To analyze curricular integration between teaching of patient safety and good infection prevention and control practices.

METHOD

Integrative review, designed to answer the question: "How does curricular integration of content about 'patient safety teaching' and content about 'infection prevention and control practices' occur in undergraduate courses in the health field?". The following databases were searched for primary studies: CINAHL, LILACS, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, Scopus, Europe PMC and MEDLINE.

RESULTS

The final sample consisted of 13 studies. After content analysis, primary studies were grouped into two subject categories: "Innovative teaching practices" and "Curricular evaluation.

CONCLUSION

Patient safety related to infection prevention and control practices is present in the curriculum of health undergraduate courses, but is not coordinated with other themes, is taught sporadically, and focuses mainly on hand hygiene.