The Effects of an Infection Educational Program in Nursing Students in Taiwan

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of an educational training program provided for students studying infection control at Hungkuang University (HKU) in Taichung. The study was conducted at HKU in Taichung, central Taiwan. This was a case-control study designed to evaluate the effects of an infection control educational program (ICEP) in nursing students studying at HKU from the beginning of July 2011 to January 2014. Two tools were used for data collection: a structured interview questionnaire and a self-reported questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and Spearman's correlations were calculated. A total of 166 students participated in the study and were categorized into two groups. One-hundred and thirty-six students participated in the experimental group, and 30 students participated in the control group. Almost half of the participants were aged 20~30 years. Of the 166 participants, 9 (6.9%) were male, 98.6% were single, 55.8% had no nursing experience, and 91.6% had less than one year of experience. In the experimental group, performance in the cognition/knowledge modules improved; this included improvements in knowledge of the epidemiology of urinary tract infection (p=0.0041), the epidemiology of dengue (p=0.046), airborne precautions (p=0.014), Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)/severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) (p=0.003), and antibiotics (p=0.026) between the pre-and post-test assessments.Improvements in performance in the attitude modules were also observed in the experimental group; these included improvements in enthusiasm (p=0.014) and the perception of nursing care (p＜0.001) between the pre- and post-test assessments. Improvements in the behavior modules were also observed in the experimental group in the identification and observation of infection (p=0.045) between the pre-and post-test assessments. The overall performance in the cognition/knowledge and attitude modules improved in the entire sample; this included improvements in the epidemiology (p=0.012), hand washing (p=0.014), Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus/severe acute respiratory syndrome (p=0.012), attitude (p=0.014), and responsibility (p=0.012) modules between the preand post-test assessments. Spearman's correlation coefficients between cognition/knowledge and attitude (r^2=0.095, p＜0.001), cognition/knowledge and behavior (r^2=0.004, p＜0.05), and behavior and attitude (r^2=0.012, p＜0.05) revealed linear positive associations between the scores in these module types in the total sample of nursing students (p＜0.001). Individual factors affecting the implementation of infection control, for example, compliance with hand washing, were related to multiple processes. In conclusion, Cognition/knowledge affected the attitudes of the participants, which in turn affected their behavior. Students gave fewer correct answers in the pretest assessment than in the post-test assessment, and the percentage of correct answers related to the cognition/knowledge, attitude, and behavior modules increased significantly between the pre- and post-test assessments. Periodic refresher ICEP courses should be provided to enable students to maintain and update their knowledge regarding infection control.