Investigate bacterial nosocomial infections and asses the knowledge of medical students concerning the prevention and control of these infections in the Al Najaf province

Nosocomial infections represent a major problem worldwide. Because it causes illness and death, it is considered a major burden to patients, and healthcare workers. Although nosocomial infections occur worldwide and affect all countries, healthcare-associated infections can however be prevented through some inexpensive strategies. This study aims to investigate the bacteria causing hospital infections in different settings of healthcare centers, and to evaluate medical students’ knowledge about preventing and controling infections in hospitals. Students' knowledge of nosocomial infection prevention and control was assessed through a cross-sectional descriptive study. In addition, this study was conducted amongst medical students for the period between December 27th, 2022 and July 15th, 2023. The non-probability specimens are composed of 608 students. A questionnaire and an interview were used as methods of data collection. The questionnaire consists of two parts: one is the demographic characteristics of the students, and the other is the students’ knowledge of infection control. In addition, experts evaluated the validity and reliability of the questionnaire separately using Cronbach's alpha. The results arrived at in this study showed that more than two-thirds of the specimens had an intermediate level of knowledge. The survey results also showed that the most popular proportions of students were those between 18 and 22 years old (69.85%), female (68.86%), urban areas (78.58%), and students with sufficient income (60.96%). The results also showed that students have a moderate level of knowledge on the prevention and control of hospital infections.