Hand hygiene compliance by health care workers at a teaching hospital, Kingston, Jamaica.

Introduction: Consistent practice of hand hygiene (HH) has been shown to reduce the incidence and spread of hospital acquired infections. The objectives of this study were to determine the level of compliance and possible factors affecting compliance with HH practices among HCWs at a teaching hospital in Kingston, Jamaica.

Methodology: A prospective observational study was undertaken at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) over a two weeks period.

Leadership in surgery for public sector hospitals in Jamaica: strategies for the operating room.

The barriers to health care delivery in developing nations are many: underfunding, limited support services, scarce resources, suboptimal health care worker attitudes, and deficient health care policies are some of the challenges. The literature contains little information about health care leadership in developing nations. This discursive paper examines the impact of leadership on the delivery of operating room (OR) services in public sector hospitals in Jamaica.

Colonic perforation: a lethal consequence of cannabis body packing.

Body packing is one method of smuggling cannabis across international borders. The practice is prevalent in Jamaica. There has been one reported death from this practice in medical literature.