Nursing students'knowledge and effectiveness of teaching in infection prevention and control

In order to prevent healthcare-associated infections, infection prevention and control (IPC) is taught to nursing students in France as soon as they enter the nursing training institutes. The primary objective of this study was to assess the knowledge of standard precautions and hand hygiene of French nursing students before and after training. Secondary objectives were to measure factors predicting success on knowledge tests, and to investigate the effectiveness of the different teaching techniques used.

A quantitative study using online self-administered questionnaires was performed between September 1, 2022 and March 7, 2023 in French nursing training institutes. Three self-administered questionnaires were administered: the first to IPC trainers on their teaching methods, and the next two to nursing students on their knowledge and socio-demographic characteristics, with one questionnaire before and one after IPC training.

Fifty-nine nursing training institutes took part in the study. Before and after IPC training, 3,739 and 2,378 nursing students participated, respectively. At the start of training, the mean score on the knowledge test was 35.67 out of 50 ([35.53-35.77] sd = 3.76), i.e. a moderate level of knowledge. After IPC training, the mean score on the knowledge test was 37.55 out of 50 ([37.40-37.68] sd = 3.48), i.e. a good level of knowledge. Students with a Nursing Auxiliary Diploma (NAD) scored significantly better than no NAD students, both before (p˂0.001) and after (p˂0.001) IPC training. The teaching techniques used were varied and combined, but only practice audits significantly improved students' knowledge after training (p = 0.050).

Nursing students' knowledge of IPC before training is heterogeneous and moderate. After training, knowledge had improved little but significantly. Only auditing was effective to improve students' level of knowledge of IPC. Audits should be included in the IPC training program.