Abstract

This study seeks to assess midwives’ knowledge and practice of universal precautions in Central Hospital, Benin City. The study employed descriptive research design. The target population was all registered midwives in Central Hospital Benin City. A total number of 180 respondents were drawn from the total population using purposive sampling technique. A structured questionnaire containing 29 items was designed and developed. It was divided into 3 sections; section A to collect Socio-Demographic Data, section B to ascertain the level of Knowledge of Universal Precautions among midwives under study and section C designed to collect information about the Practice of Universal Precautions among the midwives under study. Data was scrutinized by experts to ensure face and content validity. Test re- test was used for reliability test which yielded 0.85 h. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for windows 14.0 was used. For data analysis, descriptive statistics in the form of frequencies, percentages, Pearson product moment correlation was used. Level of significance was set at 5% (0.05) such that significant associations were established when p < 0.05. The study revealed that knowledge of universal precautions amongst midwives and their practices of universal precautions are significantly high, because more than half of the midwives in the study area practices universal precautions while discharging their official duties. Findings also showed that there is significant association between knowledge of universal precautions and practice among midwives. If midwives continue to adhere strictly to universal precautions principles, then there will be less contamination of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B as well as other blood infections.

Key words: Knowledge, practice, universal precautions, midwives.