{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]],"date-time":"2026-07-07T06:45:49Z","timestamp":1783406749697,"version":"3.54.6"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,25]],"date-time":"2024-07-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1721865600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Improvements in standard precaution related to infection prevention and control (IPC) at the national and local-level health facilities (HFs) are critical to ensuring patient\u2019s safety, preventing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), mitigating Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), protecting health workers, and improving trust in HFs. This study aimed to assess HF\u2019s readiness to implement standard precautions for IPC in Nepal.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>This study conducted a secondary analysis of the nationally-representative Nepal Health Facility Survey (NHFS) 2021 data and used the Service Availability and Readiness Assessment (SARA) Manual from the World Health Organization (WHO) to examine the HF\u2019s readiness to implement standard precautions for IPC. The readiness score for IPC was calculated for eight service delivery domains based on the availability of eight tracer items: guidelines for standard precautions, latex gloves, soap and running water or alcohol-based hand rub, single use of standard disposal or auto-disable syringes, disinfectant, safe final disposal of sharps, safe final disposal of infectious wastes, and appropriate storage of infectious waste. We used simple and multiple linear regression and quantile regression models to examine the association of HF\u2019s readiness with their characteristics. Results were presented as beta (\u03b2) coefficients and 95% confidence interval (95% CI).<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The overall readiness scores of all HFs, federal\/provincial hospitals, local HFs, and private hospitals were 59.9\u00b115.6, 67.1\u00b114.4, 59.6\u00b115.6, and 62.6\u00b115.5, respectively. Across all eight health service delivery domains, the HFs\u2019 readiness for tuberculosis services was the lowest (57.8\u00b120.0) and highest for delivery and newborn care services (67.1\u00b115.6). The HFs performing quality assurance activities (\u03b2 = 3.68; 95%CI: 1.84, 5.51), reviewing clients\u2019 opinions (\u03b2 = 6.66; 95%CI: 2.54, 10.77), and HFs with a monthly meeting (\u03b2 = 3.28; 95%CI: 1.08, 5.49) had higher readiness scores. The HFs from Bagmati, Gandaki, Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim had readiness scores higher by 7.80 (95%CI: 5.24, 10.36), 7.73 (95%CI: 4.83, 10.62), 4.76 (95%CI: 2.00, 7.52), 9.40 (95%CI: 6.11, 12.68), and 3.77 (95%CI: 0.81, 6.74) compared to Koshi.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The readiness of HFs to implement standard precautions was higher in HFs with quality assurance activities, monthly HF meetings, and mechanisms for reviewing clients\u2019 opinions. Emphasizing quality assurance activities, implementing client feedback mechanisms, and promoting effective management practices in HFs with poor readiness can help to enhance IPC efforts.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0307589","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,25]],"date-time":"2024-07-25T17:24:22Z","timestamp":1721928262000},"page":"e0307589","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Health facilities readiness for standard precautions to infection prevention and control in Nepal: A secondary analysis of Nepal Health Facility Survey 2021"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4299-9233","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Bikram","family":"Adhikari","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ishwar","family":"Tiwari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2141-1517","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Sulata","family":"Karki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1037-1273","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Achyut Raj","family":"Pandey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Saugat Pratap","family":"K. 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