Nursing graduating student’s knowledge on personal protective equipment: contributions of educational institutions

Abstract

This study aimed at verifying students’ understanding on the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) under the perspective of infection control and identifying nursing graduation courses contribution to the construction of graduating students’ knowledge on this issue. It was carried out with 182 (58.3%) nursing graduating students in Higher Education Institutions in the State of Goiás in the year of 2005. Data was collected through a questionnaire after approval of the Research Ethics Committee and assessed through descriptive statistics. The outcomes showed students multiple behavior on the use and handling of coats, gloves, masks, goggles, and caps. Despite their reports of using PPE, they do not know why to use them, even though they have studied about them in the curriculum. Knowledge is inconsistent and signals to failure in the teaching process. We verified a student’s vulnerability regarding prevention of work-related infections.

Key words: Protective devices; Universal precautions; Nursing Education.