Knowledge, Attitudes, And Practices Regarding Personal Protective Equipment Among Surgical Technologists at Burn Center In Peshawar

Abstract

It is crucial that the personal protective equipment (PPE) allows surgical technologists to mitigate risks within the operating room, but the lack of training, experience, and use may negatively impact the safety standard. The purpose of the research was to evaluate the knowledge of surgical technologists about the use of PPE, frequency, and the obstacles that appear in the way of following the safety rules. In this cross-sectional survey, 118 surgical technologists participated in the survey with the help of a structured questionnaire. Among study participants 58.5% were male and 39% fell in the 20 to 25 years age category. A majority of the respondents (63.6) had undergone some type of PPE training with 36.4 not having received any form of PPE training. The degree of knowledge was different: 39.0 percent showed high knowledge, 20.3 percent displayed excellent knowledge and 40.7 percent indicated only moderate or low knowledge. The use of PPE was overall a good one, with 67.8% having regular use and only 4.2% saying they never used it. Most of the participants had been in their careers early, with 37.3 percent of participants with three to five years of experience. The overall competency scores were between 1-10. Lack of proper training (27.1%) and time needed to use PPE (26.3) were the most commonly reported barriers, and on the whole, the study revealed that although the level of PPE awareness and adherence among surgical technologists is satisfactory, there are still significant gaps, especially in those with less training and lower scores on the competency scale.