Abstract:
Objective: The aim of this study was to assess infection prevention practice in Jinka zonal
hospital, southern nation nationalities people’s regional state Ethiopia.
Methods: Cross-sectional study design involving different quantitative and qualitative
techniques was conducted to assess infection prevention practice in Jinka zonal hospital. All
functional client service areas and systems in the hospital were assessed and all the 119 health
workers were interviewed. Moreover 3 focus group discussions among cleaners and direct
observation of 30 participants were conducted while they were carrying out selected procedures.
Quantitative data were entered into SPSS windows software version 16.0 for analysis. For the
qualitative data thematic analysis was done.
Results: The mean age of the 115 health professionals who participated in this study was 26.7
years and female accounted for 58.3%. Concerning their knowledge, 89 (77.4%) mentioned that
infection can be prevented through simple hand washing. Out of these, 80 (69.6%) respondents
replied that, they wash their hands before and after contact with every client. During observation
hand hygiene was performed satisfactorily before and after procedure by only 4 (13.3%) and 6
(20.0%) of health professionals respectively. Medical wastes and instruments were disposed
properly after procedure by 20 (66.7%) health professionals. Health professionals trained on
infection prevention practice were 18 times more likely to practice infection prevention than
those who were not trained.
Conclusion: Infection prevention practice in Jinka zonal hospital is not consistently and
thoroughly practiced based on the national and WHO standard.
Recommendation: To alleviate the problem training should be given to all healthcare workers
on infection prevention practice and ensure staff satisfaction with their current jobs and
infection prevention measures
