Missed Infection Control Practices Among Nurses in Medical and Surgical Wards in Jordan: A Cross-Sectional Study

Missed infection control practices may impact quality healthcare and patient safety. Hence, research is urgently needed to examine infection control practices left undone by nursing personnel, especially in Arab countries. This study aimed to identify missed infection control nursing practices and the underlying reasons among nurses working in medical and surgical wards in Jordan. A cross-sectional design was utilized. The study involved a convenient sample of 514 nurses from seven hospitals (six public and one tertiary hospital) in the North of Jordan during the period of October 2022 and August 2023. The Missed Nursing Care Infection Prevention and Control (MNCIPC) Survey was employed to collect the data. Data were analyzed using descriptive inferential and multivariate regression analysis. The results of this study revealed that nurses working at the medical ward reported more missed care infection activities compared to nurses working at the surgical ward. Nurses working overtime, with less clinical experience, and without formal training or qualifications reported more missed infection control. The most perceived reasons for the missed infection control activities related to labor resources, including inadequate staffing, urgent patient situations, or unexpected rise in patient volume and/or acuity. There is a need to recognize missed infection control activities and the reasons for their occurrence. The interventions to reduce missed infection control measures should aim at increasing staffing levels to manage increased and unexpected surges in nursing workload.