Knowledge and Factors Associated with Compliance of Standard Precautions in Clinical Exposure among Proficiency Certificate Level Nursing Students of Pokhara, Nepal

Introduction: The compliance with standard precautions during clinical exposure prevents the risk of infections in health professionals. Despite high degree effectiveness of standard precautions, low compliance rates has been reported among the nursing students in Nepal. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and factors associated with the compliance of standard precautions in clinical exposure among the nursing students in Pokhara, Nepal. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in between July to December 2019 among 208 Proficiency Certificate Level nursing students studying in different nursing schools in Pokhara. Self-reporting questionnaire was used as a tool to determine knowledge on standard precautions and Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale (CSPS) was used to measure compliance rate. Chi-square test was performed to assess the factors associated with the compliance of standard precautions and binary logistic regression was performed to measure the strength of association. Results: Out of 208 students participated in the study; the overall compliance rate with standard precautions was 65%. Similarly, 91.3% nursing students had fair and only 2.9% had a good knowledge on standard precautions with average knowledge score 12.15 out of 24. Multivariable analysis revealed age <18 years (AOR=2.307, 95% CI: 1.217-4.371), availability of infection control (IC) guidelines in wards (AOR=5.331, 95% CI: 1.852-15.345) and feedback on safety practices (AOR=7.419, 95% CI: 1.409-39.061) as the predictors of compliance of standard precautions among nursing students. Conclusion: The study concluded that, despite having fair knowledge on standard precautions, compliance rate is comparatively less among the students. Age of students, availability of infection control (IC) guidelines and feedback on safety practices were identified as significant predictors. There is an immediate need of training/orientation on standard precautions before clinical posting along with provision of infection control guideline in wards and supportive supervision and feedback during clinical exposure.