Predictors of nursing interns' standard precautions compliance during internship training in four teaching hospitals in Saudi Arabia.

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess compliance with standard precautions by Saudi nursing interns who were undergoing their internship training in four governmental tertiary teaching hospitals in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and to determine factors predictive of this. Background: Cross‐transmission and infection prevention when delivering care must be strictly followed by nursing interns by complying with standard precautions during internship training. Design The study employed a descriptive‐correlational and cross‐sectional design. Methods: A total of 224 nursing interns participated in the study by completing the Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale Arabic version between March 2017 and June 2017. Results/Findings A high overall compliance rate (84.8%) was observed. Nursing interns reported the highest compliance score in changing gloves between each patient contact and the lowest score in disposing of sharps boxes only when full. Nursing interns in hospital D showed the highest compliance rate over those in other hospitals. Age, sex, marital status, months in internship training and attendance of nursing interns in infection control seminars/trainings influenced their standard precautions compliance. Conclusion: The study revealed good compliance by nursing interns with standard precautions. However, regular educational and clinical interventions are still needed to improve some areas and to ensure the continuity of high levels of compliance in other areas of standard precautions among nursing interns. SUMMARY STATEMENT: What is already known about this topic? Compliance with standard precautions reduces the risk of exposure to infections and represents the minimum infection prevention measures that apply to all patient care.Nursing education ensures the safety of patients and prevents infections, thus requiring the strict compliance of health‐care workers, including nursing interns, with standard precautions during nursing practice.Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale Arabic version is a valid and reliable tool to assess the compliance rates of nursing students in Saudi Arabia. What this paper adds? Saudi nursing interns showed higher compliance rates with standard precautions than previous studies conducted in Saudi Arabia and other countries.Factors predictive of standard precautions compliance included age, sex, marital status, months in training and attendance of nursing interns in infection control trainings.Compliance of nursing interns with standard precautions significantly differed with the hospitals where they underwent their training. The implications of this paper: Strict compliance of nursing interns with standard precautions during their training must be regularly assessed to facilitate their infection control competency.Nurse preceptors must design internship plans that offer opportunities for nursing interns to perform nursing skills and procedures that impose stringent adherence to standard precautions.For clinical nursing practice, the findings can offer a basis for nurse educators to create regular educational and clinical interventions to improve and to ensure constant adherence to standard precautions among nursing interns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]