Peri-Operative Nurses’ Knowledge and Practice on Surgical Site Infection Prevention and Adherence to WHO Guidelines in Surgical Units at GISC

El Sayed Mohamed Amer, Amany; Mohammad Ahmad Sultan, Ahmad

doi:10.21608/ejhc.2025.456355

Peri-Operative Nurses’ Knowledge and Practice on Surgical Site Infection Prevention and Adherence to WHO Guidelines in Surgical Units at GISC

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ 1 Fellow of Medical Surgical Nursing, Gastrointestinal Surgery Center, Mansoura University, Egypt

² Professor of Surgery - Gastrointestinal Surgery Center, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Egypt

10.21608/ejhc.2025.456355

Abstract

Background: Surgical Site Infections (SSIs) remain one of the most prevalent healthcare-associated infections, affecting millions of patients worldwide and leading to increased morbidity, mortality, prolonged hospital stays, and financial burdens on healthcare systems. The role of healthcare professionals, particularly nurses, in preventing SSIs is well established in clinical research, with various studies emphasizing the importance of knowledge, practice in reducing infection rates. Aim: This study aimed to investigate Peri-operative nurses’ knowledge and practice on surgical site infection prevention and adherence to WHO guidelines in surgical units at gastrointestinal surgery center. Research design: A descriptive research design was utilized for conducting the study. Setting: This study was conducted in surgical Units of the Gastrointestinal Surgical Center Subject: A convenient sample (150) of all available staff nurses who are involved in direct patient care with different levels of education, have at least one year of work experience in surgical wards. Tool: Tool I: Self-administered questionnaire: It is composed of two parts: Part I: Demographic characteristics of nurses, Part II: Nurse's knowledge assessment. Tool II: Nurses’ practices observational checklist: Tool III: Nurses’ adherence to WHO guidelines Results: The results of current study revealed that the majority of (66%) of the nurses had good knowledge regarding SSI prevention and more than half (59%) of the nurses have competent practice regarding surgical site infection prevention Moreover, in this study correlation between knowledge and practice was positive. Conclusion: As a final point, there is a significant difference between Nurse’s knowledge and practice and their demographic characteristics. Moreover, the nurses in this study had a good adherence to WHO guidelines regarding. Recommendations: investigate the effectiveness of interdisciplinary training approaches involving surgeons, nurses, and infection control specialists. about surgical site infection

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