Low Compliance to Handwashing Program and High Nosocomial Infection in a Brazilian Hospital

Abstract

Background. It is a fact that hand hygiene prevents nosocomial infection, but compliance with recommended instructions is commonly poor. The purpose of this study was to implement a hand hygiene program for increase compliance with hand hygiene and its relationship with nosocomial infection (NI) and MRSA infection/colonization rates. Methods. Compliance to hand hygiene was evaluated in a hospital by direct observation and measured of health care-associated infections, including methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, before and after an educational intervention, using visual poster, colorful stamps, and feedback of the results. Results. Overall compliance did not increase during intervention, only handwashing before and after patient contact has improved from 40% to 76% (P = 0.01) for HCWs, but NI and MRSA rates remained high and stable. Conclusion. In a combination of high prevalence of NI and low compliance to hand hygiene, the programme of measure does not motivate the HCW hand hygiene. Future interventions should employ incremental evaluation to develop effective hand hygiene initiatives.

Assessment of hand hygiene levels among healthcare professionals in India

“…Having workshops and hand hygiene focused programmes have shown success in a sustained improvement in compliance with hand hygiene [6]. Institutional safety climate component also needs to be looked into, giving priority to regular meetings and adhering to a plan for continuous improvements in healthcare delivery.…”

“…Simple preventive measures have been proven effective to contain infections [1].The importance of hand hygiene is been continuously exemplified and it has been proved that training sessions on hand hygiene has resulted in sustained improvement [2][3] [4]. The common cause of nosocomial infections in developed countries were associated to prolonged stay in the hospital, surgical procedure, medications and inadequate hand hygiene [5] [6].It is been documented that 1 in 20 patients are affected by health care associated infections (HAI). Majority of the infections have found to be spreading by health care workers.…”

Conhecimentos, atitudes e práticas dos profissionais de enfermagem sobre higiene das mãos no ambiente hospitalar

“…A ausência de normas e rotinas para a adesão a essa prática está distante das diretrizes nacionais e internacionais, principalmente diante do cenário atual, comprovado com o aumento de infecções, o que constitui um risco à segurança dos pacientes e, assim, aos profissionais 5, [8][9][10][11]13,15,19 .…”

“…Estudos apontam a importância de se identificar os conhecimentos, as atitudes, percepções e práticas dos profissionais de saúde sobre HM como um meio para planejar programas de prevenção de infecções relacionadas à saúde [5][6][7][8][9][10] . O objetivo desta pesquisa foi avaliar os conhecimentos, atitudes e práticas da equipe de enfermagem sobre higienização das mãos.…”

The impact of a hand hygiene workshop on improving the knowledge of hand hygiene of medical students

“…6 Consequently, multi drug resistant pathogens such as methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have become increasingly reported during the past two decades, especially in developing countries. 7 Continuous efforts are being made to identify effective and sustainable strategies to increase hand hygiene compliance. One such effort is the introduction of an evidence-based concept of "My five moments for hand hygiene" by the World Health Organization (WHO).…”