Abstract
Objective: To assess the level of knowledge, perceptions and practices of Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) transmission prevention among nurses.
Material and Method: This was a cross sectional study carried out in four months (February to June 2014) to gain an overview on the knowledge and perceptions on MRSA transmission prevention and its practices among nurses in critical care and non-critical care units. Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data from 255 nurses.
Results: Out of 255 respondents, 222 respondents were female, while 33 respondents were male with different education levels, age groups and years of service. The respondents were working in different units, which were non-critical care (78.4%) and critical care units (21.6%). Nearly 67.1% of respondents had a high level of knowledge and only 2.4% of respondents had a low level of knowledge on MRSA transmission. About 80% of respondents had a high level of perception and 19.2% had moderate perception about MRSA transmission prevention. Most of the respondents (94.5%) said that they carried out a good practice for MRSA transmission prevention and only 5.5% had moderate level of practice of MRSA transmission prevention among nurses in this study.
Conclusion: A continuous and effective education should be provided for all nurses to enhance their knowledge and positive perception on the severity of and susceptibility to MRSA, and to improve their adherence to the practices of MRSA transmission prevention.