Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Prevention of Surgical Site Infection Among Nurses in Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria

Surgical site infections (SSI) account for 20% of all hospital acquired infections in hospitalized patients and each SS1 is associated with approximately 7 – 11 additional postoperative hospital days.This descriptive survey was to identify the knowledge, attitude and practice of prevention of surgical site infection among nurses in Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria. Three (3) research objectives guided the study. A sample size of 125 nurses from a total population of 187 was used. A well validated questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. The findings from descriptive analysis shows that 108 (86.4%) of the respondents clearly have a high knowledge of SSI, 103 (82.4%) of the respondents have positive attitudes towards the prevention of SSI. Majority, 78 (62.4%) of the respondents have good level of practice regarding the prevention of SSI. Gender has no significant influence on knowledge of SSI, attitude of nurses towards prevention of SSI and level of practice of prevention of SSI among the nurses. There is a statistically significant difference between years of experience and knowledge of SSI, attitude of nurses towards prevention of SSI and level of practice of prevention of SSI among the nurses. Professional education has no significant influence on knowledge of SSI, attitude of nurses towards prevention of SSI and level of practice of prevention of SSI among the nurses. Hospital administration should occasionally initiate capacity building programmes and in-service trainings for nurses on the prevention of surgical site infection.