A Study to assess the Knowledge and Practice of Staff Nurses Regarding Prevention of Surgical Site Infection among Selected Hospital in Udaipur City

To identify existing knowledge of staff Nurses regarding prevention of surgical site infection.

To identify the practice of staff Nurses regarding prevention of surgical site infection.

To assess the pre & post- test knowledge and practice score of the staff Nurses with selected demographic variables.

This descriptive, correlation study was to identify the nurses’ knowledge and practice at GBH American Hospital, Udaipur and examine the relationship between them. One hundred and twenty surgical nurses participated in the study (96% response rate). The instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire which is composed of three parts: Demographic characteristics, Nurses’ knowledge questionnaire, and Nurses’ practice questionnaire.

The results revealed that the nurses had low level of knowledge (M = 69.67%, SD = 8.53) and high level of practice (M = 89.95%, SD = 4.06). There was a weak, significantly negative correlation between knowledge and practice regarding prevention of SSI (r = -.18, p =.04).

This study showed that the knowledge and practice of staff nurses regarding prevention of surgical site Infection was satisfactory whereas they had knowledge regarding causes and sign and symptoms. Some area of practice regarding assessment patient's body mass index, preoperative and post-operative practice. Thus structured pre-test and post-test brought out improvement in the knowledge and practice regarding the prevention of surgical site infection.