Nursing staff compliance and adherence to standard precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study

This study investigated the compliance and adherence of nursing staff (nurses, nursing assistants, and midwives) to standard precautions (SPs). A cross-sectional design while adhering to STROBE guidelines was used for this study. Nursing staff from a government tertiary hospital (n = 515) were recruited and completed the Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale (CSPS) and Factors Influencing Adherence to Standard Precautions Scale (FIASPS). Analysis of variance, Pearson's correlation, and linear regression analysis were used to analyze the data. The overall average compliance with the SPs of the nursing staff was suboptimal, and the disposal of sharps domain had the lowest compliance. Nurses were more compliant with sharps disposal, and nursing assistants with waste disposal. Contextual cues were the most influential factor influencing participants' adherence to SPs. All CSPS domains were significantly correlated with the Contextual cues factor of the FIASPS. Finally, service years and educational attainment were significant predictors of SPs adherence. The findings underscore the organization's critical responsibility for actively enforcing policies using monitoring systems and contextual cues in the workplace to ensure staff compliance and adherence with SPs.