Knowledge, Attitude, And Practice Of Donning And Doffing Among Nursing Students At Shahida Islam Nursing College Lodhran

Abstract

Background: Proper donning and doffing of personal protective equipment is a critical component of infection prevention and control, yet procedural errors remain common among healthcare trainees and may increase the risk of self-contamination and healthcare-associated infection. Nursing students are particularly vulnerable because they must translate theoretical instruction into safe clinical behavior during early professional training. Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of nursing students regarding proper donning and doffing of personal protective equipment at Shahida Islam Nursing College, Lodhran. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 73 nursing students using a structured questionnaire assessing socio-demographic characteristics and PPE-related knowledge, attitude, and self-reported practice. Data were analyzed in SPSS version 27 using descriptive statistics, including frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations. Results: Most participants were female (63.0%) and aged 15-20 years (63.0%), while only 37.0% had received formal PPE training. Knowledge was strongest for hand hygiene before donning (93.2%) and after doffing (80.8%), but weaker for correct donning (50.7%) and doffing (46.6%) sequence. Attitudes were generally positive, with 37.0% agreeing that regular training should be mandatory and 42.5% agreeing that designated doffing areas were practical. Self-reported practice was high, with 82.2% reporting adherence to standard donning and doffing procedures and 83.6% reporting hand hygiene after doffing. Conclusion: Nursing students demonstrated moderate to good knowledge, favorable attitudes, and high self-reported practice; however, gaps in sequence-specific procedural understanding indicate the need for structured simulation-based training, competency assessment, and closer curricular integration of infection control skills.