Knowledge, attitude and practice of occupational hazard among nursing staff at teaching hospitals in Kerbala City, South-Central Iraq

This study aims to evaluate nurses’ knowledge, attitude and practices regarding occupational health hazards at kerbala teaching hospitals. The descriptive research study carried out during the period from January to April 2018 on a sample of 300 nurses were selected randomly from three teaching hospital in Kerbala city, Iraq. The instrument of this research was modified from a study by reviewing the related literature. The study instrument was consisted of four parts; demographic variables, nurses’ knowledge which included of 18 items; nurses’ practices 10 items; and nurses’ attitudes which involved of 17 items. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences for Windows (SPSS-PC, version 20) were using to analyze data. A total of 300 nurses participated in the study including of 90 (30 %) males and 210 (70%) females, 188 (62%) were in the age category of 20-39 years, 171(57%) had secondary school of nursing, 171(57%) had 7-22 years of job experience, and 231(77%) were participant in training course related occupation hazards. About 252 (84%) and 207(69%) of subjects had adequate knowledge and practices respectively. 276 (92%) of nurses had a positive attitude. There was significant association between nurses’ knowledge, attitude and practices with their years of experience.