Reduction of Hospital-Acquired Infections Through a Nursing Education Program: A Quality Improvement Project on the Sensitization of Nursing Staff Toward Infection Control in Neonates

Background This study aimed to reduce hospital -acquired infections (HAIs) by at least 50% in our unit through a nursing education program to sensitize the nursing staff toward infection control in neonates. Methodology This pre- and post -intervention observational study was conducted in Liaquat National Hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) from October 2021 until March 2023. This observational study was conducted in three phases. In phase I (pre -implementation), all neonates with suspected HAIs were included. In phase II (implementation), the nursing staff dedicated to the NICU were trained. In phase III (post -implementation), all neonates with suspected HAIs were included. Culture -proven bloodstream infections (BSIs), urinary tract infections (UTIs), and ventilator -associated pneumonia (VAP) were the three types of HAIs. The nursing scoring was done by the principal investigator based on a questionnaire. The Shapiro -Wilk test was used to evaluate the normality of all quantitative data across all phases. Results In the pre -implementation phase, there were 24 (10.8%) HAIs, among which 19 (8.6%) were BSIs, one (0.5%) was a catheter -associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI), and seven (3.2%) were VAP. Whereas in the postimplementation phase, there were 12 (5%) HAIs, among which 10 (4.1%) were BSIs, none were CAUTIs, and five (2.1%) were VAP. There was a significant reduction of HAIs in the post -implementation phase (p < 0.01). The difference in the knowledge, assessment, and practice was statistically significant in the postimplementation phase (p < 0.01). Conclusions We established a successful cost-effective intervention to improve the awareness and compliance of NICU nurses with infection control practices. This helped us in reducing HAIs in our NICU.