Assessment of Compliance with Standard Precautions Among Nursing Staff in Federal Medical Centre Jalingo, Taraba State

Standard precautions are the minimum infection prevention measures applicable in all patient care situations regardless of confirmed or suspected infection status. Consistent compliance among nursing staff is critical to preventing healthcare-associated infections and protecting both patients and workers. This descriptive cross-sectional study assessed compliance with standard precautions among 120 nursing staff at Federal Medical Centre Jalingo, Taraba State, in the North East geopolitical zone of Nigeria. A validated structured observational tool based on the WHO Infection Prevention and Control Assessment Framework was used by trained nurse observers. Compliance across five standard precaution domains was measured: hand hygiene, personal protective equipment use, safe injection practices, respiratory hygiene, and waste management. Overall compliance with standard precautions was 52.4 percent. Safe injection practices had the highest compliance at 76.7 percent. Personal protective equipment appropriate use was the lowest at 38.3 percent. Hand hygiene at critical moments was observed at 44.2 percent compliance. Nurses with post-basic infection control training had significantly higher overall compliance scores. Inadequate PPE stock and poor supervisory reinforcement were the most frequently cited barriers. The study recommends structured refresher IPC training, continuous clinical supervision with feedback, guaranteed PPE supply, and an institutional standard precautions culture framework at FMC Jalingo. Keywords: standard precautions, nursing staff, compliance, Jalingo, infection prevention.