Two-day workshop linked to higher infection-prevention scores among Nigerian house officers

A two-day surgical skills workshop was associated with higher infection-prevention and control knowledge and operating-theatre safety confidence among 20 house officers at Federal Teaching Hospital Katsina in northern Nigeria. In the small, uncontrolled before-and-after study, mean infection-prevention knowledge rose from 4.45 to 5.95 points on a seven-point scale, while theatre safety confidence increased from 17.65 to 25.70 on a scale ranging from 6 to 30. All 20 participants completed both assessments, but the researchers did not measure whether the workshop reduced surgical site infections or improved patient outcomes.

The study enrolled 20 of 38 eligible house officers attending House Officers’ Week at the hospital, corresponding to a participation rate of 52.6%. Participants were assessed immediately before the workshop on its first day and immediately after the final session on its second day. The researchers used paired t-tests after confirming normality with the Shapiro–Wilk test and calculated standardized effect sizes using Cohen’s d. Because every participant received the intervention and there was no randomized comparison group, the analysis could measure changes associated with the workshop but could not determine that training alone produced those changes. The immediate pre-test and post-test design also left the durability of the changes unknown.

The workshop combined didactic teaching, live demonstrations and supervised practice with low-fidelity simulation. The practical content addressed surgical hand hygiene, aseptic non-touch technique, sharps safety, wound dressing and use of the World Health Organization Surgical Safety Checklist. The primary outcome was a seven-item infection-prevention knowledge subscore with a possible range of zero to seven. The secondary outcome was a six-item Likert-scale measure of theatre safety confidence, with possible scores ranging from six to 30. These instruments assessed knowledge and reported confidence rather than independently observed behavior in operating theatres or patient-level clinical outcomes.

Mean infection-prevention knowledge increased by 1.50 points after the workshop, with a 95% confidence interval of 0.50 to 2.50. The paired comparison yielded t(19) = 3.14, p = 0.006, and Cohen’s d = 0.70, a large standardized effect size by the study’s analysis. All 20 participants met the minimum knowledge competency threshold after the workshop, compared with 11 participants, or 55%, before it. The standard deviation in knowledge scores narrowed from 1.96 to 0.69, a 65% reduction. This change indicates greater consistency in test performance among the participants, but the study did not establish that their real-world safety practices had become standardized.

Mean theatre safety confidence increased by 8.05 points, with a 95% confidence interval of 3.21 to 12.89. The result was statistically significant at t(19) = 3.48, p = 0.003, with Cohen’s d = 0.78, also a large standardized effect size. The authors additionally reported an inverse relationship between internship duration and infection-prevention knowledge, which they interpreted as an argument for recurring, posting-targeted training during internship. That relationship came from a small, single-site cohort and does not establish causation. Overall, the study links a brief, structured workshop with improved tested knowledge and confidence among participating house officers, while leaving longer-term retention, actual theatre behavior and effects on patients unmeasured.

Subject of Research: Quasi-experimental evaluation of surgical infection-prevention and theatre safety training among Nigerian house officers

Article Title: Effect of a structured surgical skills workshop on infection prevention and theatre safety practices among house officers at a Nigerian tertiary hospital: a quasi-experimental study

Article References: Kojo-Woode, P., Chaba, A. O., Ahmad, I. A., & Akas, Y. K. (2026). Effect of a structured surgical skills workshop on infection prevention and theatre safety practices among house officers at a Nigerian tertiary hospital: a quasi-experimental study. BMC Medical Education. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-10323-6

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12909-026-10323-6

Keywords: infection prevention, surgical safety, medical education, simulation training, house officers, Nigeria, hand hygiene, WHO surgical safety checklist, operating theatres, knowledge assessment, Effect, structured