Assessing adherence to infection prevention and control standard operating procedures in Phlebotomy among health laboratory practitioners in Dar es salaam regional referral hospitals.

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: Infection prevention and control (IPC) is a systematic approach to reduce healthcare-associated infections (HAI). HAI accounts for 90% of admissions in developing nations annually while healthcare-associated infections range from 2.5% to 14.8% in Africa. Tanzania introduced IPC Standard Operating Procedures in 2020 to ensure worker safety and quality health services. However, there are limited studies specifically evaluating the compliance of health laboratory practitioners with safe phlebotomy practices as per IPC standard operating procedures to determine not only the level of compliance but also explanatory individual and organizational facilitators and barriers. Objective: To evaluate health laboratory practitioners' adherence to safe phlebotomy procedures as per Infection Prevention and Control standard operating procedures ( IPC SOPs) at Dar es Salaam Regional Referral Hospitals. Methods: The researcher conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study involving laboratory managers and practitioners at Dar es Salaam RRHS. The study involved 303 patient observations in a quantitative approach using an observation checklist as a tool, and 12 participants in a qualitative approach using in-depth interviews, convenient and purposive sampling were employed Results: Only 8.6% of health laboratory practitioners adhered to the IPC SOPs. There was minimal compliance with the recommendations to use gloves 59.7%, disinfection of venipuncture sites 13.5%, and before and after procedure hand hygiene 19.5% and 4.3% consecutively, the study show the significant relationship between training, designation and adherence to IPC SOPs (P value<0.05). Experience of the personnel, availability of IPC SOPs, and QMS made it easier to follow safe phlebotomy protocols. Poor attitude of personnel, poor working environment, insufficient supplies, and a high workload were among the obstacles toward adherence to safe phlebotomy procedures. Conclusion: The study has revealed low adherence to safe phlebotomy practices, suggesting a serious need for training and behavioral change interventions at different health care facility levels.