ABSTRACT
Background:Healthcare workers have a higher risk of SARS CoV2 infection with implications for transmission of infection and the safety of workers and patients. Objective: To assess knowledge on COVID-19 and the safety practices among selected healthcare workers in southwest Nigeria. Methods:A cross-sectional study of 210 workers providing direct care to patients during the COVID-19 pandemic was conducted. Respondents wererecruited through simple random sampling of members of online platforms of healthcare workers in Osun, Ondo and Ekiti States. Information on sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge of PPE and safety practices was obtained through a close-ended questionnaire. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 36.5±7.5 years. About 29% and 30% of respondents were from the State and Federal Government-owned Teaching Hospitals, respectively. A little above half (58.1%) had good knowledge of COVID-19, while 62.1%used PPE always when attending to suspected COVID19 cases. More than half (53.8%) had been trained on infection prevention and control (IPC), but only 34.3% adhered to good safety practices. Healthcare workers in State government-owned teaching hospitals had lower odds of good safety practices than those in Federal Teaching Hospitals (OR = 0.42, 95% CI = 0.19-0.93, p = 0.031).Conclusion: The knowledge of appropriate PPE and practice of safety precautions among healthcare workers is sub-optimal. This may predispose to increased COVID-19 transmission among healthcare workers, patients, and their families. Training and retraining healthcare workers, especially those from hospitals identified by the study as having poor safety practices, should be encouraged.
Subject(s)
Knowledge , Disease Prevention , Personal Protective Equipment , COVID-19 , Equipment SafetyABSTRACT
Background: The success of national immunization programmes depends largely on effective logistics management of the vaccine cold chain system. This study assessed cold chain equipment functionality, healthcare workers' knowledge and practice of the logistics management of vaccine cold chain system in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Methods: A descriptive study was conducted in immunization clinics of 35 health facilities in Ife East and Central Local Government Areas (LGA) in Ile-Ife. There were 100 immunization service providers in the (LGAs) and they were all recruited into the study. Information was obtained with the aid of an interviewer-administered, structured questionnaire. Cold chain equipment functionality was assessed using a checklist. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Results: Eleven (31.4%) of the facilities had functional refrigerators for storing vaccines, 16 (45.7%) had cold boxes while 13 (37.1%) had thermometers for vaccine temperature monitoring. Fifty-four (54.0%) of the healthcare workers were aware of the "shake test" and 19 (19.0%) could correctly interpret colour changes on a vaccine vial monitor. Consumption record was considered by 69 (69.0%) of healthcare workers when making vaccine requisitions while the required lead time was considered by 24 (24.0%) of them. Only 29 (29.0%) of healthcare workers kept records of vaccines stock-on-hand.Conclusion: Adequate training and supportive supervision is essential to improve healthcare workers' knowledge and cold chain practices. Relevant cold chain equipment should be provided to boost storage capacity across health facilities