Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs) Prevention Practices Among Medical Students in a Teaching Hospital in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria

Background: The prevention of healthcare-associated infections is central to the provision of safe, high-quality healthcare. Students are a part of the healthcare team and are at increased risk of these infections. This study seeks to assess Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs) prevention practices among medical students in a Teaching Hospital in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study done in July 2019 among medical students using a Multistage sampling technique. Data was collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire and analyzed using the IBM SPSS 28 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). Results: Almost all (99.1%) of students claim that they wash their hands before and after seeing patients, 81.9% wash their hands before meals, 57.4% wash their hands before performing invasive bedside procedures, 72.7% wash before and after examining patients, 30.2% wash their hands before &after touching wounds, but not when gloved, 63.9% wash their hands between two different procedures on different patients. Concerning wearing face/nose masks 86.8% said they wore masks when transporting coughing patients out of the ward, 70.3% stated that they wore masks when irrigating septic wounds, 60.7% said they wore face masks whenever they were attending to patients with fecal incontinence, 76.3% said they wore face mask whenever they were delivering a baby of an HIV Positive woman, 51.6% said they wore face mask whenever they were visiting neonatal intensive care unit. The majority of respondents (83.6%) have never sustained a needle stick injury before, main reasons for non-use of PPE include High cost (24.7), PPE Not available (951.1%), difficulty in using (15.1%), No reason (9.1%). Conclusion: Generally, more than a third 150 (68.5%) of respondents had good practice of HAI prevention, while 69 (31.55) had a poor practice of HAIs prevention. There is also a need to ensure that the availability of PPEs, hand washing and waste disposal equipment is ensured, while medical students are also taught the importance of good equipment hygiene.