Hand hygiene compliance rate of health professionals

Abstract

Objective: In this study, it was aimed to define the compliance rate of health professionals to the rule of 5 indications which require hand hygiene. Method: Health professionals were observed for two hours a day within working hours during three months by an observer. The observation was made according to 5 indications rule for hand hygiene and compliance rates were calculated. Results: A total of 3690 hand hygiene indications were observed. Compliance rate of health professionals was found as 58%. Hand hygiene compliance rates were found to be 69% for nurses, 45% for doctors and 36% for allied health professionals. Hand hygiene compliance was observed to be the highest as 80% before aseptic operations and the lowest as 48% after touching patients' goods. Conclusions: Providing hand hygiene for health professionals is the first step of infection control programme which is constituted to prevent hospital infections. In accordance with obtained findings, increasing compliance is planned with repetitive educations which especially include the statement of hand hygiene indications and methods for health professionals tailored through evaluations via observation method and feedback of gained findings.