Effects of clinical training on compliance with standard precautions among nursing students: a quasi-experimental...

Healthcare-associated infections are a safety concern that continues to impact the quality of patient care. Standard precautions have a structure that determines the steps and conceptual framework to be followed within the scope of infection prevention and control practices. The study aimed to evaluate the effect of the clinical training process on nursing students' standard precautions compliance and attitudes.

This study employed a quasi-experimental, single-group pre-test post-test design and was conducted at the Faculty of Nursing at a public university. 234 baccalaureate nursing students were included in the study. Before and after clinical training in the Spring Semester of the 2023-2024 Academic Year, the Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale was utilized to assess self-reported standard precautions compliance, while the Factors Influencing Adherence to Standard Precautions Scale-Student Version was used to evaluate attitudes toward standard precautions objectively.

Overall self-reported compliance increased from 69.04% to 72.96% after clinical training. In the FIASP-SV post-test, the mean "justification" score was significantly lower among 3rd -year students, whereas the mean "practice culture" score was significantly lower among 2nd -year students compared with the other class years. In the pre-test, a low-level positive correlation was observed between the total FIASP-SV and total CSPS scores (r = 0.164; p < 0.05).

The findings of this study highlight the importance of designing a clinical training program that provides students with opportunities to experience nursing skills and procedures that require strict adherence to standard precautions. Nursing academics must address strategies in the nursing curriculum that will enable nursing students to transfer knowledge of infection prevention and control practices to clinical education.