Aseptic-clinical hand hygiene knowledge survey amongst health care workers in a tertiary care hospital in Western India

Abstract

Background: Maintenance of hand hygiene among health care workers (HCWs) is the cornerstone of infection prevention and control programmes in a health care facility. Poor hand hygiene amongst HCWs is the single most common cause of cross-transmission of infections between patients and HCWs in the hospital. The objective of this study was to identify the risk factors for non-adherence and assess the knowledge regarding maintenance of hand hygiene amongst health care workers at a tertiary health care centre in Western India. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted on HCWs-doctors, undergraduate students and staff nurses at a tertiary care hospital and postgraduate institute in western India after ethical committee clearance. A selfreport questionnaire by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the Hand Hygiene Knowledge Survey (2009), which consisted of ten questions and "My 5 moments of hand hygiene", was answered by the study participants after their written/informed consent. Data was analysed using one-way Anova and Student"s t-tests. Results: 317 participants responded to the survey which included 131 doctors, 111 medical students and 75 staff nurses. 90.85% participants routinely used an alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR) but their overall hand hygiene knowledge score was only 61.04%. Prior formal training in hand hygiene significantly improved the knowledge of HCWs (P<0.001). There was a significant difference between the knowledge and actual practice of "My 5 Moments of hand hygiene". Conclusions: Hand hygiene knowledge remains unsatisfactory till date amongst HCWs. There is a need to educate HCWs through frequent training session"s right from the time of undergraduate medical study.

Knowledge and practice of hand hygiene among undergraduate students and junior doctors in the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal

“…Prior training in hand hygiene was found to be significantly associated with the participants’ knowledge of hand hygiene which was similar to the findings of Vaishnav B et al . [ 1 ] showing that training has a positive relationship with knowledge.…”

“…Maintenance of proper hand hygiene among treating doctors and nurses is one of the most important measures to curb health-care-associated infections. [ 1 ] Hand hygiene is one of the most important healthcare concerns globally and is a single most cost-effective and practical measure to cut down infections and spread of antimicrobial resistance across all settings—from advanced health-care systems to primary health-care centers. [ 2 3 4 ] WHO introduced the “My five moments with hand hygiene” approach for health-care workers and these are before and after touching a patient, before performing aseptic procedures, after exposure to body fluids, and after touching patient surroundings.…”

Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Hand Hygiene Among Health Care Workers in the Aimsr and District Government Hospital of Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh- An Observational Study

“…[10] Knowledge about hand hygiene products should be explained to the staff in their own language and give them the choice to follow one product only. A study in Pune showed that Knowledge about the differences between ABHR and hand washing with soap and water was poor overall amongst the study population [9] Among the rural parts of India, the most common product used are soap and water (63-82%), followed by spirit or Alcohol based hand rubs which was highest in the OTs (54%). Other optional materials included 'Only water', 'Water and antiseptic solution' and 'Water and liquid soap.…”

“…A total of 91.48% participants answered "always" in response for actually performing hand hygiene (practice) after a body fluid exposure risk (Moment 3), but for the rest of the moments (Moment 1, 2, 4, 5) the response was poor (<70%). [9] Five Moments of Hand Hygiene When we compare the practice of the five moments of hand hygiene with the nursing staff it is seen that 65% of the nursing staff do not practice hand washing before patient contact compared to 15% of nurses who always practice hand hygiene. 40% never washed hands before an aseptic procedure and 20% never washed hands after patient contact.…”

Assessment of hand hygiene knowledge among medical and nursing students of Mysore medical college and research institute, Mysore

“…6 Awareness on hand hygiene practices among health care workers is less as shown in many studies. 7 Medical and nursing students are exposed to hospital acquired infections during their training and it is necessary that they should be aware of hand hygiene. 8 The reasons for not practicing appropriate hand hygiene practices are lack of knowledge about guidelines, lack of facilities, insufficient time, patient overload, lack of priority by the institutions.…”