Effect of Education Program on Infection Control Practices of Nurses at Haemodialysis Unit in Sohag University Hospital

Background: While potentially preventable, hospital acquired Infection is still the second cause of mortality in hemodialysis patients. Education about infection prevention measures and infection control guidelines could improve healthcare workers compliance with standard precautions. Objectives: To determine the effect of education program about infection prevention on nurses' practices at hemodialysis unit in Sohag University Hospital. Methods: This is a quasi-experimental hospital study that was conducted during a six-months period between 1st January 2022 to 30th June 2022. We observed infection prevention practices of hemodialysis nurses during initiation and terminations of the hemodialysis sessions for patients with arterio-venous shunt and central catheters. Data before and after the education program were compared. Results: A total of 23 nurses were included, with an average age of 26.7 years and average experience of 7.2 years. The majority were females (73.9%) and only 43.5% received previous training in infection control. There was statistically significant improvement of infection control practices after education program (p-value <0.0001). The improvement included arterio-venous shunt initiation, arterio-venous shunt termination, catheter initiation, and catheter termination (Mean scores of practices after education program became 81%, 86%, 81.3%, 81.3% respectively. P-value <0.0001). The main areas of improvement were hand hygiene practices and scrub the hub protocol. Conclusions: The implemented education program improved overall nurses' infection control practices during initiation and termination of dialysis procedure among patients with arterio-venous shunt and central catheter, especially hand hygiene and scrub the hub protocol. The findings underscore the importance of continuous infection control training of dialysis nurses.