ASSESSMENT OF NURSES' KNOWLEDGE AND ADHERENCE TO INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL PROTOCOLS IN SELECTED TEACHING HOSPITALS IN LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) continue to pose a major challenge to patient safety, healthcare quality, and the occupational wellbeing of healthcare workers. Effective infection prevention and control (IPC) is consequently an essential component of safe clinical practice. Nurses have a particularly significant role in reducing the transmission of infections because their responsibilities involve frequent interaction with patients, medical devices, body fluids, and the wider healthcare environment. This article examines nurses’ knowledge and adherence to infection prevention and control protocols in teaching hospitals in Lagos State, Nigeria, focusing on key areas including hand hygiene, personal protective equipment (PPE), standard precautions, sharps management, healthcare waste disposal, environmental sanitation, and prevention of occupational exposure. Findings from Nigerian teaching hospitals have reported relatively high levels of knowledge and compliance with standard precautions, while intervention-based research has shown that structured infection-control education can further improve healthcare workers’ knowledge. Evidence from Lagos similarly indicates generally favourable levels of infection-control knowledge and practice among healthcare professionals, although sustained training and access to appropriate protective and safety resources remain important. International evidence also suggests that infection-control interventions are more effective when education is combined with regular monitoring, feedback, adequate infrastructure, reliable supplies, and institutional support. The article therefore emphasizes that strengthening IPC in Lagos teaching hospitals requires a comprehensive and sustained strategy that integrates continuous professional education, adequate staffing, consistent availability of IPC materials, effective supervision, routine auditing and feedback, committed institutional leadership, and the development of a strong patient-safety culture.