AUTHOR=Baral Mira Adhikari , Koirala Sumitra 

TITLE=Knowledge and Practice on Prevention and Control of Tuberculosis Among Nurses Working in a Regional Hospital, Nepal

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine

VOLUME=Volume 8 - 2021

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2021.788833

DOI=10.3389/fmed.2021.788833

ISSN=2296-858X

ABSTRACT=Introduction
Tuberculosis (TB) is a highly prevalent communicable disease in Nepal. It is very necessary for all healthcare providers, especially nurses, who spend a lot of time with such patients, to have adequate knowledge and correct practice on occupational safety measures to maintain health and prevent transmission of the disease. This study was carried out to assess the knowledge and practice of nurses in the prevention and control of TB infection.
Method
This study was a cross-sectional study conducted on nurses working in all wards and Out Patient Departments (OPDs) of Western Regional Hospital, Pokhara. A complete enumeration of the respondents was performed, and data was collected consecutively, using a semi-structured self-administered questionnaire, from all nurses working in all the wards and OPDs of the hospital. The predictors of knowledge of TB infection prevention and control was assessed using binary logistic regression.
Results
The study findings showed that a majority of nurses had an inadequate level of knowledge and poor practice of prevention and control of tuberculosis.  Nurses who were 40 years and older ( p = 0.001, AOR = 5.965, CI = 2.083-17.457) and who were currently working in the wards with isolation rooms demonstrated higher odds for knowledge on TB infection prevention and control (p = 0.010, AOR = 2.686, CI = 1.264-5.710).
Conclusions
This study showed that a majority of the nurses had an inadequate level of knowledge (34.6%) and implemented poor safety measures for the prevention and control of tuberculosis. This increases their risk of being infected with TB infection and cross-transmission. It is recommended that the hospital plan and conduct the necessary education/training for nurses to update their knowledge, develop the organizational structure and policies and establish a system to support, and monitor the practice of health workers on prevention and control of tuberculosis and maintain the health and safety of nurses caring for patients with tuberculosis.