Abstract:
Surgical Site Infections (SSI) are a major source or morbidity and associated mortalities. The
invasive nature of the procedures, break the first line of defense for the body, making the patient
vulnerable to infections especially by pathogens such as Escherichia coli, staphylococcus aureus,
and klebsiella. The levels of the morbidities have not had a significant decline, since the inception
of WHO blueprints on prevention. This study assessed adherence to WHO blueprints on the
prevention of SSIs among nurses and to establish the nurse-linked as well as facility-associated
factors that influence the protocols to compliance. A descriptive cross-sectional design was
employed on a population of 98 nurses working in surgical, outpatient, theatre, and maternity
departments at Karatina Sub-County Hospital. Stratified random sampling method was used.
Data was collected using observational checklist and self-administered questionnaire. The tools
were pretested at at Mukurweini Sub-county hospital in Nyeri, which offers similar services as
Karatina Sub-County Hospital. Data was analyzed through descriptive statistics such as
frequencies, percentages, mean, as well as standard deviation and inferential statistics i.e. chi
square and multinomial regression analysis, using SPSS version 25.0. The level of confidence was
set at 95%. The level of adherence to WHO guidelines on SSI prevention was 44.9%. There were
more male nurses who adhered to the SSI prevention guidelines than female (p<.001), availability
of hospital policies on SSI prevention significantly contributed to high level of adherence (p
<.001). In conclusion, hospital policy on SSI prevention can potentially reduce the incidences of
surgical site infections.
