Objective:

Healthcare associated infections are any infections that do not occur during the incubation period and which develop within 48–72 hours after the patient has stayed in the hospital, or within 10 days after discharge from the hospital. In this study, we aimed to determine the level of knowledge of nursing students regarding prevention of healthcare associated infections.

Method:

The population of the study consisted of 667 student nurses who studied in the nursing department of a university. The data were obtained from 506 students who accepted to participate in the study between May 13 and 17, 2016. In the study, a questionnaire form titled “Determination of Knowledge Levels of Nurses about Prevention of Hospital Infections” developed by the researcher was used.

Results:

The mean score of knowledge that the nursing students had regarding prevention of healthcare-associated infections was 54.28 ± 11.16, the hand hygiene knowledge score was 16.05 ± 4.48, and the mean score of surgical site infections was 5.53 ± 2.42. As seen in the factors affecting the mean scores for the students’ knowledge on the prevention of nosocomial infections, it was determined that the mean score of the third-grade students (56.29) was higher than the other averages (p < .05).

Conclusion:

It was determined that the mean knowledge scores of the student nurses about preventing healthcare associated infections were moderate and that their mean knowledge scores on surgical site infections were low.

Keywords: Healthcare associated infections, students, nursing, knowledge