Missed Infection-Control Nursing Care from the Early Pandemic to the Post-Pandemic Era: Policy and Management Implications for Safer Healthcare.

Publication date: Jul 10, 2026

Missed nursing care related to infection prevention and control compromises patient safety and reflects clinical practice gaps and organizational constraints. The COVID-19 pandemic intensified awareness of infection-control practices; however, whether this translated into sustained reductions remains unclear. To compare missed infection-control nursing care between the pre-/early-pandemic period (2019-2020) and the post-pandemic period (2026) and identify persistent omissions with implications for healthcare policy and management. A descriptive study was conducted among 1570 nurses, including 774 participants in Group A (2019-2020) and 796 in Group B (2026). Data were collected online using the Missed Infection Control Nursing Care Questionnaire, tested for reliability and validity in Greek. Data were analyzed using SPSS 25. 0, with statistical significance set at α = 0. 05. Item-level analysis showed lower mean omission scores in 34/37 infection-control nursing care practices, with 26 statistically significant reductions. The largest decreases were observed for glove use during antibiotic preparation/administration (1. 493 to 1. 070), hand hygiene before medication administration (1. 340 to 0. 962), multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) admission screening (1. 849 to 1. 481), and intravenous access hub disinfection (1. 978 to 1. 668). In 2026, key residual omissions involved urinary catheter care (31. 2%), hub disinfection (33. 2%), oral hygiene (30. 9%), and environmental hygiene before meals (29. 1%). Missed infection-control nursing care declined in the post-pandemic period, but system-dependent omissions persisted, highlighting the need for staffing adequacy, balanced workload allocation, environmental support, and routine integration of infection-prevention practices.

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