Infections are a major source of morbidity and cause of mortality during the post-operative phase for patients. Wound infections are the second most commonly encountered type of nosocomial, hospital-acquired, infection in the United States (Nichols, 2007:8). Owing to the fact that wound infection may be induced, such as, by not applying infection control and sterile technique principles in the operating room complex, it is imperative to implement infection control principles and apply sterile technique principles. The researcher noticed that some of the sterile technique principles were not carried out in the operating room complex which lead to the necessity to assess the knowledge of registered nurses’ regarding the implementation of infection control and sterile technique principles. The main goal of the study was to explore and describe the knowledge of registered nurses’ in two private hospitals in the Nelson Mandela Metropole, related to infection control and sterile technique principles in the operating room complex. Following the analysis of the data, the researcher made recommendations for changes to be made to the existing infection control guidelines in the operating room complex. The research design was quantitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual in nature. The sample consisted of all the registered nurses known as scrub nurses, in the operating room complex. The unit managers were excluded from the study, because the researcher utilized their assistance with the handing out and collecting of the questionnaires because, not all scrub nurses were at work at the same time. Firstly a pilot study was conducted (in both private hospitals) to confirm the reliability of the data collection instrument. Data was collected by means of a questionnaire that was self-administered and consisted out of three sections: Section A – Biographical Data; Section B – Knowledge Base Related to Infection Control Principles and Section C – Knowledge Base Related to the Principles of Asepsis. The researcher consulted experts to ensure the reliability and validity of the questionnaires and to ensure that the iv questionnaires would measure what it is intended to measure and that it will remain consistent. The data obtained from the questionnaires was analyzed by means of statistical and inferential analysis and included descriptive statistics with the assistance of a statistician. Following the analysis of the data, recommendations for changes to be made to the existing infection control guidelines in the operating room complex was made. This was done with relevant literature and the guidelines were discussed with experts in the field. The researcher ensured that all the legal and ethical requirements, such as the participants’ right to privacy, were maintained throughout the study.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:10034 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Malan, Kim |
| Publisher | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Health Sciences |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MCur |
| Format | xvi, 129 leaves ; 30 cm, pdf |
| Rights | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
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