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Examining Hospital Patients’ Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Hospital-Acquired Infections and Their Participation in Infection Control

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2015

Holly Seale*
Affiliation:
School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Yuliya Novytska
Affiliation:
UNSW Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Julie Gallard
Affiliation:
Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, Australia.
Rajneesh Kaur
Affiliation:
School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
*
Address correspondence to Dr. Holly Seale, Senior Lecturer, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW Medicine, University of New South Wales, Room 237, Samuels Building (F25), UNSW, Sydney, 2052, Australia (h.seale@unsw.edu.au).

Abstract

It is crucial to assess patients’ understanding of and readiness to participate in infection control programs. While 80% of hospital patients reported that they were willing to help hospital staff with infection prevention, many felt that they would not feel comfortable asking a healthcare worker to sanitize his or her hands.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2015;00(0): 1–3

Type
Concise Communications
Copyright
© 2015 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved 

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References

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