Evaluation of nursing and midwifery students' knowledge levels on urinary catheterization-related infection precautions

Objective: This study was planned to evaluate the knowledge level of nursing and midwifery students about urinary catheterization-related infection precautions. Material and Methods: The study was carried out in a descriptive manner with 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade students studying in the "Nursing" and "Midwifery" departments of a university between 04.04.2022 and 20.05.2022. First year students were excluded from the study due to their lack of clinical experience. The sample group of the study consisted of 376 students who were 18 years of age or older and agreed to participate in the research. Results: The average age of the participants is 21.43. 77.93% of the students are women and 97.6% are single. 80.27% of them study in Nursing and 19.73% in Midwifery departments. While 83.29% of the students answered "I have information" to the question "Do you have information about the urinary catheter?"; 75.68% of them answered that they do not know about the responsibilities of the nurse in the urinary catheter application. Participants aged 22-33 got higher scores from the "Knowledge Level for Evaluation Form of Prevention of Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections" compared to participants aged 18-21. While there was no significant difference between the scores of the Nursing and Midwifery students according to the form; The score of female participants was higher than those received by male participants. Conclusion: It has been determined that the level of knowledge about prevention of catheter-associated urinary tract infections differs depending on variables such as age, gender, graduated high school, education level, employment status, career seniority. Key Words: Urinary Catheterization, Urinary Catheter Related Infections, Urinary Tract Infections, Bladder Catheter.