CONHECIMENTO E ADESÃO DOS PROFISSIONAIS DE ENFERMAGEM EM RELAÇÃO AS PRECAUÇÕES PADRÃO: UMA INTERVENÇÃO EDUCATIVA

Abstract

The application of instruments that measure aspects related to both knowledge and the adherence of nursing professionals to standard precautions should be used with a view to proposing educational actions aimed at resolving any gaps. In view of this, this study evaluated the knowledge and self-reported adherence by nursing professionals in relation to standard precautions before and after an educational intervention. This is a quasi-experimental research, of the before and after type, of an educational intervention with a single group. The study included 100 nursing professionals who worked in a hospital institution, a reference within the Unified Health System for 10 municipalities in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. A sociodemographic characterization instrument, a questionnaire to assess knowledge about standard precautions (QCPP) and the Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale (CSPS) were used to verify adherence to standard precautions. All statistical tests were applied with a significance level of 5% or p<0.05, the Wilcoxon test, to assess possible significant differences. Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis test, to evaluate possible rank differences between independent numerical variables, Komolgorov-Smirnov normality test, Chi-square test of independence for categorical variables, Spearman for before and after scores, normality test Komolgorov-Smirnov and the Levene test for homoscedasticity, Cohrane's Q test to measure proportional differences in each item of the questionnaires, McNemar-Bowker test and the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software, version 20.0. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, under opinion No. 4,218,227. The results indicate that most participants were female (85.9%), 77.8% of which were nursing technicians. As for age, the majority 71.9% were between 20 and 40 years old. Regarding the measurement of self-reported knowledge, it was possible to verify that there was a significant difference between the scores of health professionals before (16.20 ± 1.51) and after (16.90 ± 1.31) the educational intervention (W=3.336 ; p < 0.05). Regarding knowledge about hand hygiene after wearing gloves, it was found that after the intervention there was a statistically significant increase in p-value (0.033) for this question. Regarding the evaluation of self-reported adherence, it was observed that there was a statistical difference before (15.29 ± 2.23) and after (16.48 ± 1.98) the educational intervention (W= -4.443; p < 0.05) . Regarding the questions about disposal of the sharps box and removal of personal protective equipment, there was a statistically significant increase in correct answers after the educational intervention with p-value (0.023) and p-value (0.034) respectively for each item. The development of educational interventions with the team is a strategy to improve professionals' knowledge and adherence to standard precautions. It is concluded that the educational intervention had a positive effect on knowledge and adherence to standard precautions, allowing a reflection on the way in which personal protective equipment was used by nursing professionals during the care provided to patients with COVID-19, thus contributing in advances for the science of nursing in relation to the strengthening of knowledge related to safe practices in health services. It should be noted that the knowledge aspect is a precursor to safe care, however it is necessary to expand this reflection not only in a self-reported perspective, but also to consider the practical implementation of this knowledge with the development of new research of an observational nature. Descriptors: Universal Precautions. Nursing Professionals. Patient safety. Hospital Infection. Individual protection equipment. Knowledge.