What is medical staff knowledge about decontamination?

Background: Decontamination is a process whose primary purpose is to remove or destroy microorganisms or other contaminants from surgical equipment and instruments that may provide a potential route of transmission for pathogenic microorganisms and therefore must be properly decontaminated. One of the most serious consequences of not performing all procedures is nosocomial infections, including surgical site infections (SSIs). It is believed that healthcare workers are not sufficiently aware of the importance of performing the decontamination process. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess healthcare workers' awareness of the importance of carrying out the decontamination process. Methods: The research instrument was an original questionnaire consisting of 17 closed single-choice questions and a "specification" section. The study group consisted of 101 healthcare workers employed in the hospital. The findings were developed in Microsoft Office Excel 2019 and presented in the form of tables. Results: Respondents struggled to identify the purpose of disinfection-only 49.50% of respondents gave the correct answer. Only 55.45% of the respondents knew that the initial disinfection after the use of surgical instruments should take place within a maximum of 3 hours. Most respondents (58.41%) did not know the correct definition of sterilisation. Not all healthcare professionals participating in this study were aware of the time it takes for hepatitis C infection to occur after blood-borne infection through unclean and unsterile surgical instruments or other medical devices. Conclusions: Healthcare workers' awareness of the importance of carrying out the decontamination process is at an average level. Most of the respondents were unable to correctly answer questions about the purpose and associated processes of disinfection and to correctly define sterilisation. It is recommended to implement educational activities aimed at improving the awareness of health care workers regarding the decontamination process in order to minimise the health risk to patients and medical staff.