Nurses’ Knowledge regarding Safety Measures toward Blood Borne Diseases in Hemodialysis Units, At Khartoum State- Sudan (2021- 2022)

Abstract

Background: Nurses play an important role at the dialysis units, they are the key health caregivers responsible for applying the foremost skills and principles of infection control steps throughout the process of hemodialysis. This may reflect their attitude and knowledge of infection control principles.The aim of this study to assess nurses’ knowledge regarding safety measures towards blood borne diseases in hemodialysis units. Methods: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional hospital based study, conducted at Khartoum main haemodialysis centres- Khartoum State, Sudan. Six main public hospitals were selected, plus the hospitals that provide haemodialysis. Seventy nurses providing haemodialysis were enrolled in this study, data was collected using self-administered questionnaire with an observational check list for data collection, data analysis was carried out using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS), and the results were presented in descriptive and numerical forms as well as cross table P value considered significant at (0.05). Result: This study, revealed that participant nurses have poor knowledge about hand washing 34 (48.6) and mode of transition 29 (41.4%). The common causes of blood borne diseases was 34 (48.6%), while their knowledge was inadequate towards diseases that can be transmitted through blood 40 (57.1%). There is significant relationship between the course and efficiency of sterilization of the dialysis machine P-value < 0.031. Conclusion: The study concluded that total knowledge of participant was inadequate in spite of that they missed some information about infection control such as hand washing, methods of transmission and sterilization of machine. The study recommend regular in- service training for staff by workshop, seminar and audit regarding establishment and activation of infection control unit in each hospital, and have to employ qualified staff with supervised practice and establish standardize check list and guidelines. Keywords: blood borne diseases, nurses, knowledge, safety measures