A Study to Assess the Knowledge Regarding Prevention of Blood Borne Infections among Students of Selected Nursing Institution at Mangaluru

Background of the Study: Blood borne pathogens are microorganisms such as viruses or bacteria that are carried in blood. A blood borne disease that can be spread through contamination by blood and other body fluids. In health care setting, blood born pathogen transmission usually occurs by Percutaneous exposure to the workers mostly happens when they are handling infected patients. 1The aim of our study was to assess the knowledge regarding prevention of blood borne infection among students of selected nursing institution at Mangaluru.

Materials and Methods: A descriptive study was conducted among104 undergraduate students. Subject was selected using purposive sampling techniques. The information was collected using a demographic Proforma and a self - administered questionnaire. The overall knowledge on prevention of blood born infection was graded as adequate, good, and inadequate.

Results: The overall knowledge score was majority (64.4%) had average, 33.7% had good and minority (1.9%) had good knowledge regarding blood born infection and its prevention. In this study there was significant (P<0.05) association between knowledge score with age, gender whereas there is no significant association between knowledge score with year of study, previous knowledge on standard precautions and source of information.

Conclusion: The present study concludes that the nursing students have a fair knowledge regarding the cause of blood born infections. Competent knowledge is needed to prevent the spread of blood born infections. Successful prevention strategies of blood born infections require a high level of awareness of the infected individual as well as a detailed knowledge among healthcare professionals and society.