Hand hygiene practices in a dental teaching center: Measures and improve

Abstract

Objective:To measure the compliance and the quality of HH practices and the knowledge of the healthcare workers’ of the university dental care center.Materials and Methods:All educators and students present were eligible for inclusion in the study. Each healthcare professional was observed in care situation over a period of 30 min. The knowledge, attitudes and opinions were collected through a questionnaire.Results:Number of healthcare professionals included was 190 (64.4%). Study group consisted of 151 students (74.4%) and 39 educators (42.4%). Out of a total number of expected disinfection of hands (993), 396 were made (39.9%). Educators had a higher compliance rates than students (63.7-35.8%, P = 10−9). Large differences were found between care situations (compliance higher before the first care to a patient and lower during installation of patient in dental X-ray area or at exit of dental X-ray area). Concerning hand rubbing (HR), 36.6% were performed correctly, and the main error was all steps of HR not observed (54.4%), and shorter duration (46.7%). The observance and the quality of HR were associated with better knowledge.Conclusion:This data suggests areas of improvement: (1) A comprehensive intervention including care organization/clinic ergonomics/planning/anticipation of materials needed for care; (2) the development of HH education program should include the educators, since the behavior of students is strongly influenced and formed by their mentor's attitude and behaviors.

Knowledge of hand hygiene in undergraduate medical, dental, and nursing students: A cross-sectional survey

“…Individual studies focused on dental students have identified a poor knowledge, low attitude, and behavior towards hand hygiene and infection control. [ 12 17 18 ] However, there exists a paucity in the literature on head to head comparison studies of dental students with medical and nursing students with regard to the hand hygiene. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study where a multidisciplinary comparison was conducted in the undergraduate students which included dental students as well.…”

“…Several authors have reported that the knowledge, attitude, and observance of hand hygiene by the undergraduate healthcare students is poor. [ 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 ] Cross-disciplinary studies are limited and mainly focused on the comparison between medical and nursing students. [ 7 8 9 ] There is a need to explore the concept of hand hygiene among the cross-disciplinary healthcare undergraduate students, in India.…”

Detection of visually imperceptible blood contamination in the oral surgical clinic using forensic luminol blood detection agent

“…While modifications to the handcuffs of the gowns have been suggested,[ 16 ] it is again imperative that standard gloving and gowning procedures are adhered to before all minor oral surgical procedures. [ 15 17 18 ]…”

Impact of Educational Intervention for Hand Hygiene on Dental Students’ Knowledge, Attitude, and Bacterial Contamination Level on Hands

“…The wrong answer was given 0 score, and the correct answer was given a score of 1. The second part was used to measure the attitude about HH and was composed of questions that were answered by a 5-scale spectrum (strongly agree [5], agree [4], no comment [3], disagree [2], and strongly disagree [1]). Knowledge and attitude were evaluated by considering score <40% as low, 40 to 70% as average, and a score of 70 to 100% as high according to Sharif et al 15 …”

“…2 Hand hygiene is essential to eliminate transient microflora and decrease resident microflora, even when gloves are worn as a mean of protection as it provides a warm, moist environment to organisms and facilitates their proliferation. 3 Despite the simplicity of hand washing procedures and periodic updating of infection control guidelines, the compliance with HH and its adherence by health care practitioners is unsatisfactory and could reach as low as 40%. 4,5 In dental practice, HH is the most important activity accomplished to reduce the risk of transmitting microorganisms from dental HCW to patient because of the ease of contamination of hands by blood, body fluids, and saliva.…”