Dataset Information

First year medical students' and standard precautions: The need for change.

ABSTRACT: Background:Standard Precaution (SPs) practices protect health-care workers prevent hospital-acquired infections. With Competency Based Medical Education (CBME) and early clinical exposure (ECE) implemented in the new curriculum, the first year medical students need to be aware of SPs, so as to protect themselves and the patients from these hazards. Aims & objective:To assess the knowledge of standard precautions among the medical students and find out association of knowledge with selected demographic variables. Methods and material:This cross-sectional study was done among first year medical undergraduate students of a medical college.Data was collected through google form with researcher-made questionnaire including questions on knowledge about SPs and socio-demographic variables of the study participant and their parents. Results:Response rate was 97.9%. Mean age of the participants was 19.13?±?0.858 years; 57.7% were girls.Although 80.3% had heard of SPs but as high as 83.1% were of the opinion that "SPs were only for protection of the health-care team", 23.2% felt that it should "only be used in patients diagnosed with infection". 96.5% knew that "hand hygiene should be performed while providing care to patients", 97.2% had knowledge about respiratory and cough hygiene practices, 14.1% of them felt that "PPE can be shared". 57% of the respondents answered that "needle should be recapped after giving injections". Conclusions:Students in early clinical years were found to have a varied level of knowledge of SPs and a lot of gaps in correct understanding of required facts. Continued medical education and skill-assessment to test their knowledge, must be incorporated into their teaching curriculum before ECE, so as to minimize the risk of preventable infections.

SUBMITTER: Ankita B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7499057 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

First year medical students' and standard precautions: The need for change.

Ankita Banerjee B Ipsa Mohapatra M

Clinical epidemiology and global health 20200918

<h4>Background</h4>Standard Precaution (SPs) practices protect health-care workers prevent hospital-acquired infections. With Competency Based Medical Education (CBME) and early clinical exposure (ECE) implemented in the new curriculum, the first year medical students need to be aware of SPs, so as to protect themselves and the patients from these hazards.<h4>Aims & objective</h4>To assess the knowledge of standard precautions among the medical students and find out association of knowledge with ...[more]

PMID: 32964172

Similar Datasets

Project description:No previous studies have reported the knowledge of Saudi medical students about Standard Precautions (SPs) and infection control.The objectives of this study were to assess medical students' knowledge in clinical years at King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia about SPs' and to explore their attitudes toward the current curricular/training in providing them with effective knowledge and necessary skills with regard to SPs.This cross sectional study targeted students in clinical stage at College of Medicine, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia. A pre-tested anonymous self administered data collection form was used. Inquires about students' characteristics, general concepts of infection control/SPs, hand hygiene, personal protective equipment, sharp injuries and disposal, and care of health providers were included. The main source of information for each domain was also inquired. The second part dedicated to explore the attitudes toward the curricular and teaching relevant to SPs.A total of 251 students were included. Knowledge scores in all domains were considerably low, 67 (26.7%) students scored ? 24 (out of 41points) which was considered as an acceptable level of knowledge, 22.2% in 4th year, 20.5% in 5th year and 36.8% in 6th year. Sharp injuries, personal protective equipment and health care of the providers showed the least knowledge scores. The main sources of knowledge were self learning, and informal bed side practices The majority of students' believed that the current teaching and training are insufficient in providing them with the necessary knowledge and skills regarding SPs.The overall knowledge scores for SPs were low especially in the domains of hand hygiene, sharp management, and personal protective equipment reflecting insufficient and ineffective instructions received by medical students through the current curriculum posing them vulnerable to health facilities related infections. Proper curricular reform and training are required to protect students and their patients.

Project description:IntroductionRecently, stories depicting social injustices and inequities have gripped the US, leading to protests and other demonstrations of student activism. In response to current events, students at Weill Cornell Medical College identified the need for more diversity inclusion components in the newly developed medical school curriculum. Thus, we developed a student-initiated, student-run elective, Community Perspectives in Medicine, which provides a forum for first-year medical students to interact, and have open discussions, with members of communities most impacted by social and health inequities.MethodsDuring five weekly 2-hour sessions, representatives of different community-based organizations (CBOs) speak with 15 first-year medical students. Invited CBOs represent diverse populations, including LGBT, chronic illness, disabilities, religion, and immigrant health. For each session's first hour, a second-year student facilitates a semistructured interview of the CBO guests focusing on health disparities within their community, challenges experienced with the medical system, and what they wish doctors did differently. Students are encouraged to ask questions, often resulting in a rich dialogue. The session's second part is a debriefing by the student facilitator over a relaxed dinner (without CBO guests).ResultsFourteen of the16 enrolled students attended all five sessions and completed the course evaluation. Satisfaction with the course was high, as 93% of students enrolled rated the course as excellent. The course format, content, and diversity of speakers were rated as excellent by 79%, 86%, and 93%, respectively. Similarly, 71% of students believed there to be excellent applicability to medical practice, and 100% of students thought the timing during first year was excellent.DiscussionWe emphasize the importance of a partnership between CBOs and medical students, thus increasing students' cultural awareness as well as formally involving traditionally disenfranchised communities in medical education. Our project's unique format of safe-space discussion forums and session debriefings enhances critical thinking. Though used with multiple CBOs as an elective, our model can be easily adapted for one session on a specific health disparity.

Project description:Standard precautions (SPs) guidelines are the minimum infection prevention practices that apply to all types of patient care, regardless of suspected or confirmed infection status of the patient. They are based on risk assessment, make use of common sense practices and personal protective equipment that protect healthcare providers from infection and prevent the spread of infection from patient to patient. The aim of this study was to determine medical staff's attitudes towards SPs and analyse the factors shaping these attitudes. The study was conducted using a questionnaire that comprised 25 statements describing the attitudes of medical personnel towards SPs. They were designed to pinpoint the factors that determine these attitudes. There were five factors identified that shape employees' attitudes towards SPs: assessment of the situation, favourable patterns of behaviour, negative norms, unfavourable patterns of behaviour and rationalising. The study analysed 505 questionnaires filled in by hospital workers from five Polish cities. The majority of the respondents were women (92.1%), nurses (87.5%); the average age was 41.8 and the average seniority was 19.2 years. Over one-third of the respondents worked in non-surgical (36.4%) and surgical (31.6%) wards, 12.3% were employed in intensive care units (ICUs) and 8.9% in emergency departments (EDs). The variable significantly affecting the level of acceptance of SPs was seniority: initially the support was high, then it later decreased, with the greatest decrease occurring between the third and eighth year of work. The staff of medical wards and ICUs demonstrated significantly lower support for SPs and strong environmental impact on SPs perception; low degree of acceptance among medical ward staff correlated negatively with factors from the category "favourable patterns of behaviour". The substantially strongest support for SPs was found in ED workers. The results indicate the need for continuous education of individual groups of workers concerning the application of SPs, but also the necessity to change the organisational culture in Polish hospitals.

Dataset Information

First year medical students' and standard precautions: The need for change.

Publications

First year medical students' and standard precautions: The need for change.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets