NURSING PRACTICE IN PREVENTION OF SURGICAL SITE INFECTIONS AT MBAGATHI AND MAMA LUCY HOSPITALS IN NAIROBI, KENYA

Abstract

Background: The burden of Surgical Site Infections (SSIs) remains high with an estimated incidence of between 10% to 30% across various health care settings globally. Nurses have an integral role in prevention of SSIs to ensure the quality of surgical care and patient safety standards. Nosocomial infections especially SSIs have increasingly affected the cost and safety of surgical care at Mbagathi and Mama Lucy hospitals in Kenya. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the standards of nursing practice in prevention of SSIs.
Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in the two major public referral hospitals in Nairobi County. A total of 126 nurses (63 from each of the two hospitals) were recruited through simple random technique, data was collected through questionnaires and observation check lists. Data was analysed through univariate, chi square test and fisher’s exact methods.
Results: There were unsatisfactory standards of practice among 36 (57%) and 31 (49%) of the 63 nurse participants, each at Mbagathi and Mama Lucy hospitals, respectively. Nursing practice in the prevention of SSI was non-standardised compromising overall surgical care. A majority, 42 (87.5%) and 46 (92%) of the 48 and 50 nurses working at Mbagathi and Mama Lucy hospitals, pre-operative departments, respectively, did not implement simple and achievable interventions like ensuring that the patients had taken a bath or shower before surgery for prevention of SSIs. 

Conclusion: The standards of nursing practice in the prevention of SSIs were inconsistent and unsatisfactory, affecting the quality of surgical care. There is a need for dissemination and utilization of evidence-based guidelines to improve the standards of SSI preventive care and patient safety.