The Relationship between Self-Perceived Infection Control Competency Stage and Infection Control Competency in Tertiary General Hospital Nurses

Purpose: This descriptive survey study was conducted to understand the self-perceived infection control competency (ICC) stage and ICC in clinical nurses working at tertiary hospitals and to identify the relation between the self-perceived ICC stage and ICC.Methods: The participants were 150 nurses working at a tertiary general hospital located in C province. Data collection was conducted from March 27 to April 5, 2023. The research tools used were self-perceived ICC stages and ICC.Results: ICC showed significant differences according to the self-perceived ICC stage (F=16.87, <i>p</i><.001). Among the individual items of the ICC, significant differences were found in basic microbiology (F=17.28, <i>p</i><.001); guidelines for standard precautions and additional isolation precautions (F=14.54, <i>p</i><.001); personal protective equipment (F=11.90, <i>p</i><.001); cleaning, disinfection, and sterilization (F=9.59, <i>p</i><.001); and critical assessment skills (F=11.87, <i>p</i><.001).Conclusion: This study confirmed the relationship between self-perceived ICC stages and ICC in general nurses. It also demonstrated that the competency stages perceived by these nurses were similar to those defined by clinical experience. This not only provides a basis for developing an infection control education program that considers professional experience according to clinical experience and the level of self-perceived ICC found in this study, but also further contributes to enhancing nurses’ overall ICC.