Knowledge and awareness of infection control practices among nursing professionals: A cross-sectional survey from South Asia and the Middle East.

Background: The proficiency of nursing professionals in the infection prevention and control (IPC) practices is a core component of the strategy to mitigate the challenge of healthcare associated infections.

Aim: To test knowledge of nurses working in intensive care units (ICU) in South Asia and Middle East countries on IPC practices.

Methods: An online self-assessment questionnaire based on various aspects of IPC practices was conducted among nurses over three weeks.

Results: A total of 1333 nurses from 13 countries completed the survey. The average score was 72.8% and 36% of nurses were proficient (mean score > 80%). 43% and 68.3% of respondents were from government and teaching hospitals, respectively. 79.2% of respondents worked in < 25 bedded ICUs and 46.5% in closed ICUs. Statistically, a significant association was found between the knowledge and expertise of nurses, the country's per-capita income, type of hospitals, accreditation and teaching status of hospitals and type of ICUs. Working in high- and upper-middle-income countries (β = 4.89, 95%CI: 3.55 to 6.22) was positively associated, and the teaching status of the hospital (β = -4.58, 95%CI: -6.81 to -2.36) was negatively associated with the knowledge score among respondents.

Conclusion: There is considerable variation in knowledge among nurses working in ICU. Factors like income status of countries, public vs private and teaching status of hospitals and experience are independently associated with nurses' knowledge of IPC practices.