ASSESSING THE ADHERENCE TO INFECTION CONTROL PROTOCOLS IN INTENSIVE CARE UNITS AT TERTIARY HOSPITALS IN LAHORE

Abstract

Background Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) continue to be a central concern to patient care, especially in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where patients are highly vulnerable due to poorly functioning health conditions and immunocompromised conditions. Despite the established evidence-based protocols in infection control, there is usually inconsistency in compliance of the practices by healthcare workers. In Pakistan, there is a lack of information regarding the degree of compliance with the infection control procedures in ICU facilities, particularly in the tertiary care hospitals. The objective of this study was to determine the compliance of ICU nurses working in ranked tertiary hospitals in Lahore to infection control measures.

Materials and Methods The study design was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The research was done in the Intensive Care Units of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Jinnah Hospital and General Hospital Lahore. The selected sample consisted of 300 ICU nurses who were identified through a convenience sampling method. A standardized Standard Precaution Adherence and Practice Questionnaire was used to collect the data. The data was summarized using descriptive statistics (frequency and percentages) and chi-square tests were used to establish relationships among demographic variables, hospitals, and infection control practices. The analysis of the data was done using SPSS version 26.0.

Results The results revealed that there was a relatively high rate of compliance with infection control behaviour among ICU nurses where the overall rate of compliance with the 20 items of the standard precautions was about 84%. The highest level of compliance was seen in hand hygiene practices, usage of gloves when taking blood, sharps, and dealing with blood or body fluids. Nevertheless, the compliance on wearing gloves during changing of dresses and some low-risk or routine situations were observed to be less. Chi-square showed that there is no statistically significant relationship between the practices of infection control and gender or the hospital setting (p > 0.05).

Conclusion The research results in the conclusion that the compliance of the ICU nurses with the infection control measures in the tertiary hospitals of Lahore is high; nevertheless, some gaps are still observed in the particular practices like the use of gloves during the change of dressing. There was no major difference in the basis of gender or hospital. It is suggested that the identified gaps should be filled through the focused training, constant monitoring, and support by the institution to support the infection control practices in the ICUs further.