Analyzing the Performance of Healthcare Providers in Infection Control Measures in Primary Healthcare Facilities in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Introduction. Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) have been a critical cause of morbidity and an undue burden in the healthcare system. HAIs are largely preventable through compliance with standard infection control techniques (Sulaiman Althiyabi et al., 2023). Protocols of infection management urge the significance of these measures to prevent the spread of contaminated organic essential fluids, the administration of harmful gases, and the proper disposal of hazardous bio-waste products. Unsafe practices in dealing with needlesticks, sharp instruments, contamination of the wound surface, the following aspect of the patient, the absence of health care gowns, goggles, and caps, using contaminated masks, and neglecting the immediately required rules and precautions increase the transmission of the infection. Also, non-adherence to standard precautions and poorly maintained facilities appeared to be among the requirements for increased nosocomial infection risk factors for the healthcare professional’s clinics in the three major countries in primary healthcare services in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Nepal. Once HAIs have grown up, patients spend more time in care, eat more medication, and eventually perish. The healthcare system integrity of any nation is measured by how well the respective country physician performs. The definition, strategy, policies, and evaluation for establishing the healthcare facility and physicians’ performance are various according to the need for different countries. Rigorous-observational performance analysis (ROPA) is one of the methods engaged to address the issue of healthcare research efficiency and physicians in. Methods. Using a benchmarking method, this descriptive cross-sectional study compared the observed performance of primary healthcare facility staffers in infection control for influenza with specific criteria based on the general infection control measures in the literature and existing guidelines (A Madani et al., 2006). It was noted that all facility staffers of interest—comprising primary sanitarians, a sample of general practitioners, auxiliary healthcare personnel in general practice clinics, and a sample of nurses—considerably underperformed according to the specific criteria, especially regarding the infection control measures for droplet and contact zones. Benchmarked deficiency is robustly significant for general practitioners and general practice personnel but only marginally significant for nurses, although errors of the former are less severe except for the donning and doffing equipment and waste handling (Abalkhail et al., 2021). Furthermore, core infection control tasks among the personnel types were analytically identified. Conclusion. This study aimed to analyze the performance of healthcare providers in infection control measures in primary healthcare facilities in Saudi Arabia. Data were collected based on the Healthcare Facility Infection Control Checklist tool developed by the Ministry of Health in order to determine the level of compliance with the facility infection control procedure. The study population included managers and healthcare service providers in the primary healthcare facilities as well as data collectors. The data was collected by direct observation and through interviews at 232 primary healthcare facilities in 20 cities in Saudi Arabia. Data collection consisted of filling the checklist form to assess the infection control procedure. The data is then documented and analyzed using SPSS to get the percentage, mean, and standard deviation. It was also analyzed using one-way ANOVA to determine the significant difference in the mean of infection control procedure compliance in primary healthcare facilities with different facility ownership. The mean of compliance with the primary healthcare facility infection control procedures at the critical analysis point is 80.1% and 67.2% at the non-critical analysis point. There is a significant difference in the mean of compliance facility infection control measures with the procedures at primary healthcare facilities with different facility ownership. On one side, this study can describe in detail the implementation of infection control measures in primary healthcare facilities. This can be a reference for those responsible to activate control measures against infections in primary care facilities. On the other hand, the weakness in this facility can also be seen by those responsible for increasing quality and mutual cooperation between all stakeholders. Regarding the prevention of hospital acquired infections, nursing care has an important role considering that nurses are healthcare workers who have the opportunity to provide direct client care, so they are the group most needed to pay more attention to infection prevention. In this research, a descriptive analytic research design was used with cross-sectional design. Descriptive analytic research aims to obtain a figure of how a variable works or how accurately a variable is able to represent the situation. This research was conducted at the emergency department of a medical complex during a specific period. With a population size of 242 nurses who work at the emergency department, a total sampling technique is needed. The Healthcare-Associated Infection (HAI) is a health problem in the community, especially patients in hospitals. Efforts to prevent HAI are carried out by a variety of methods, including by promoting good hand hygiene behavior. The knowledgeable and skilled nursing staff in HAIs and hygiene practices, the better the efforts made to prevent infection on the HAI. The overall average knowledge of the participants' nursing is good regarding the prevention of HAIs.