Infection Prevention and Control Practices Among Healthcare Workers: A Review of Knowledge, Compliance, Barriers, and Strategies for Improvement

Abstract

Healthcare-associated infections remain a significant challenge to patient safety and healthcare quality worldwide. Healthcare workers play a central role in preventing the transmission of infectious agents within clinical settings through appropriate infection prevention and control (IPC) practices. This review aims to examine healthcare workers’ knowledge, attitudes, and compliance regarding IPC measures, identify common barriers to effective implementation, and summarize strategies that may improve adherence. Key IPC practices considered include hand hygiene, appropriate use of personal protective equipment, standard and transmission-based precautions, safe injection and sharps practices, respiratory hygiene, environmental cleaning, disinfection, and waste management. Evidence from the literature indicates that although healthcare workers generally demonstrate awareness of IPC principles, gaps frequently exist between knowledge and actual clinical practice. Factors such as inadequate training, high workload, limited resources, insufficient availability of protective equipment, time constraints, and weak institutional safety culture may reduce compliance. Continuous education, adequate provision of infection-control resources, regular monitoring and feedback, supportive leadership, and multimodal improvement programs can strengthen adherence to recommended practices. Effective implementation of IPC measures is essential for reducing healthcare-associated infections and occupational exposure. Strengthening healthcare workers’ knowledge and translating this knowledge into consistent clinical practice should therefore remain a priority for healthcare institutions.