Strengthening Actuating and Controlling Functions in Infectious Patient Care Among Nurses at A Hospital in Jakarta

Abstract

Infectious patient care requires consistent implementation of infection prevention and control measures, as well as nursing staff preparedness to manage exposure risks. The initial assessment in the General Inpatient Unit of a hospital in Jakarta indicated that nurses had good levels of knowledge and compliance; however, concerns remained regarding the provision of care to infectious patients. This activity aimed to strengthen the actuating and controlling functions through education, discussion, personal protective equipment (PPE) simulation, reinforcement of care procedures, supervision, monitoring, feedback, and coaching. The activity involved 12 nursing staff members and used a descriptive evaluation with a single-group pre–post intervention design. The evaluation covered knowledge, perceptions of safety and preparedness, procedural compliance, PPE use, and the implementation of transmission-based precautions. The results showed that the proportion of nurses with good knowledge increased from 83.3% to 91.7%, while the proportion reporting perceptions of safety and preparedness increased from 41.7% to 83.3%. The proportion of nurses reporting concerns about caring for infectious patients decreased from 58.3% to 16.7%. The percentages for procedural compliance, PPE use, and implementation of transmission-based precautions also increased, from 91.7% to 97.2%, 93.1% to 98.6%, and 90.3% to 97.2%, respectively. Descriptively, the changes observed after the activity indicated improvements in knowledge, preparedness, and infection prevention practices. These findings describe favorable changes following the activity but do not establish a causal relationship between the intervention and the observed outcomes.