| dc.description.abstract | Nosocomial infections (Nls) are reported to affect about 15% of hospitalized patients in regular wards and as many as 4%-56% of all death in neonates results from this infections. While episodes of Nls are recognized in hospitalized patients worldwide, and are prevalent in all age groups, higher incidences are found in poor resource -limited settings, especially in Africa. The healthcare workers, especially nurses, play a critical role in the prevention and control of Nls. However, in poor resource settings, limited studies have been conducted to ascertain this. This was a cross-sectional study to assess knowledge, attitude and practice of nurses on Nls at Vihiga County Referral Hospital. A semi-structured self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from the nurses, while key-informant interviews were conducted on the Nurse-in¬Charge (maternity), the Nursing Officer-in-Charge (wards) and the Infection Prevention officer. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the sample characteristics and variables. Chi-Square test was used to test for associations between variables. P- Value of less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Qualitative data was summarized then themes generated. This study reports that while the nurses had sufficient knowledge (97.8%) and positive attitude towards nosocomial infections, their knowledge was lacking in certain areas, and their practice towards nosocomial infection was not sufficient to prevent or control nosocomial infections. The nurses were a risk for the transmission of Nls (55.7%), and were equally at risk of being infected. There was however an Infection Prevention and Control Team, which met on a monthly basis. The study therefore recommends that routine trainings on nosocornial infections should be done for the nurses by the Ministry of Health. In addition, nurses and other healthcare staff should be provided with necessary resources that help prevent and control nosocomial infections. Findings of this study provides an insight on the need to review guidelines on prevention and control of Nls among not only for nurses but other healthcare workers in Vihiga County Referral Hospital and elsewhere in poor resource settings within the county | en_US |