Objective: 1.To assesses the level of knowledge towards prevention of surgical site infection among Peshawar nurses. 2. To evaluate the level of practices towards prevention of surgical site prevention among Peshawar nurses.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in August 2024 which include nurses. A self-constructed questionnaire comprising 20 questions about nurses' knowledge and practices about the prevention of surgical site infections was disseminated to 84 nurses selected by convenience sampling. Data were inputted and analysed utilizing SPSS version 22. In descriptive statistics, frequencies and percentages were computed for categorical variables, whereas means and standard deviations were determined for continuous variables. The chi-square test was utilized to ascertain any significant relationship between the variables.

Results: The study included 84 nurses from surgical wards, with a 95% response rate. most were female (58%) and aged 20-30 years. Regarding infection control, 66% had never attended training. knowledge assessment revealed that 42.8% had poor knowledge (below 60%), 29.76% had average knowledge, 15.47% had good knowledge, and only 6.66% had excellent knowledge (above 80%). in practice, 61% had poor or average levels, 30% had good, and 9% had excellent practices. Hand hygiene compliance was moderate (57% always washed hands before and after touching the surgical site). only 57% knew about preoperative shaving, 48% correctly answered dressing change frequency, and 25% identified the best disinfectant. a significant association (p = 0.002) was found between knowledge, practice, professional qualification, experience.

Conclusion: Based on the results of the survey, it was found that nurses had insufficient awareness regarding the risk of infections related with surgical procedures and the utilization of preventative measures. Despite this, a significant number of the participants were found to possess either strong or average competence in clinical practice. Moreover, the investigation discovered the fact that the vast majority of nurses had never participated in any infection control program or supplementary courses.