Educational needs for infection prevention and control during outbreaks: A qualitative study with health workers in Sri Lanka.

Background: Protecting the health workforce is essential to health systems resilience for emerging infectious disease (EID) outbreaks. We explored healthcare workers (HCWs) perceptions of infection prevention and control (IPC) guidelines and training needs for managing the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Sri Lanka as part of a larger study, which aimed to create role specific IPC guidelines for HCWs in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs).

Methods: Using a qualitative descriptive approach, sixteen semi-structured interviews were conducted among hospital and public health HCWs including, physicians, nurses, public health midwives and support staff, such as cleaning staff, in Kalutara District of Sri Lanka.

Results: Interview findings are described under three themes: HCW workload during an EID outbreak; evolving EID management guidance and education during a public health emergency; and desired EID guidance and IPC education during a public health emergency. The COVID-19 pandemic increased staff workload across the spectrum; HCWs were provided with some form of IPC training but there were lapses in adherence; and staff were interested in having easy to use desk guides, training videos, formal training and access to all training material.

Conclusion: A tailored approach to IPC education based on identified overall and key specific needs (such as training support staff) provides crucial information to improve HCW knowledge of IPC practices in Sri Lanka. In addition, IPC education must be extended to all HCWs to sustain best practices before, during, and after health emergencies.