Infection prevention and control knowledge and educational needs among nurses in healthcare settings: results from the Hygeia European survey

Knowledge of infectious agents, modes of transmission, and routes of spread play a central role in planning and performing infection prevention and control (IPC) procedures. The European Hygeia survey involved an online questionnaire that was administered from March 2025 to August 2025 to nurses from acute Hospitals and long-term facilities in Italy, Spain, Sweden and Turkey, to monitor their training on hygiene and related topics, in order to provide them up-to-date, reliable and easily accessible professional education and training to strengthen their knowledge on IPC procedures. A total of 438 nurses were included in the study; their median age was 42 years and 368 (84%) were women and 66 (15%) men; 4 (1%) not stated. Most nurses attended at least one hygiene course (321, 75%), 364 (84%) nurses were interested in attending a hygiene course. There were a few statistically significant differences in education level, in particular, nurses with university degree had a greater self-perceived knowledge in hygiene and prevention with adjusted Odds Ratios (aOR) = 3.77, CI: 1.38-10.30, p = 0.010 and infections (aOR = 2.96, CI: 1.09-8.01, p = 0.033) than nurses with diploma. Our study showed most nurses had a good self-perceived knowledge in hygiene prevention and protection measures and were willing to take part in future courses on this subject. Greatest knowledge deficiencies were related to disinfection and sterilization and infection control fields, future education courses should aim to address this issue.