Awareness of standard precautions for 4439 healthcare professionals in 34 institutions in France

Objective: The study objective was to assess the awareness of standard precautions (SP) among healthcare professionals, 1 year after the latest national guidelines were issued. Methods: A multicenter cross-sectional survey was conducted in 34 volunteer institutions in 2010. Data was collected using an anonymous and self-administered questionnaire. The data was analyzed with a program developed from Epi-Info software. Results: Four thousand four hundred and thirty-nine questionnaires were analyzed. Most respondents were nurses (44.1%) or nurses' aides (26.7%) followed by physicians (3.5%). 25% of respondents had participated in specific PS training in the previous 5 years. The percentage of correct answers for each question ranged from 37.1 to 91%. There was 72.6% of correct answers on hand hygiene but only 7.3% of correct answers on use of appropriate barriers and disposal of needles. 39.3% of respondents gave correct answers to eight or more of the 10 SP questions. The level of knowledge of nurses was higher compared to other professionals. The lowest level of knowledge was observed in long-term care and psychiatric institutions. Conclusions: The knowledge of healthcare professionals on use of appropriate protective barriers and disposal of needles is still too limited. The survey results should be used to develop adequate and targeted educational interventions. © 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS.