Assessing Patient-Care Knowledge and Practice to Prevent Nosocomial Infection Post- Caesarean Section in District Hospitals

In developing countries, incidence of maternal mortality due to nosocomial infection during and after childbirth is considered high. Such phenomenon was also evidenced in hospitals which may be due to difficulty to access skilled care and/or quality disparity in healthcare provided. This study was performed to explore the current knowledge and practice of nursing/midwifery care for mothers post-Caesarean delivery in two district hospitals in Malang, East-Java, Indonesia. The study was designed as a quantitative cross-sectional survey and observation of patient-care practices. The population and samle studied were all nurses/midwives providing patient-care in Delivery Unit of Department of Obstetric and Gynecology. The results showed that there was gap between expected and actual knowledge and skill mastery, with concurrent incidence rate of 44% nosocomial infection post-Caesarean section. In conclusion, several aspects of knowledge; skills and attitudes including aseptic wound care were in need of improvement to control nosocomial infection post-Caesarean delivery