Background: Hand Hygiene (HH) has been described as the cornerstone and starting point in all infection control. Compliance to HH is a fundamental quality indicator. The aim of this study was to investigate the HH compliance among Health-care Workers (HCWs) in Benin surgical care units.
Methods: A multicenter prospective observational study was conducted for two months. The World Health Organization (WHO) Hand Hygiene Observation Tool was used in obstetric and gastrointestinal surgery through six public hospitals in Benin. HH compliance was calculated by dividing the number of times HH was performed by the total number of opportunities. HH technique and duration were also observed.
Results: A total of 1315 HH opportunities were identified during observation period. Overall, the compliance rate was 33.3% (438/1315), without significant difference between professional categories (nurses =34.2%; auxiliaries =32.7%; and physicians =32.4%; p = 0.705). However, compliance rates differed (p < 0.001) between obstetric (49.4%) and gastrointestinal surgery (24.3%). Generally, HCWs were more compliant after body fluid exposure (54.5%) and after touching patient (37.5%), but less before patient contact (25.9%) and after touching patient surroundings (29.1%). HCWs were more likely to use soap and water (72.1%) compared to the alcohol based hand rub solution (27.9%). For all of the WHO five moments, hand washing was the most preferred action. For instance, hand rub only was observed 3.9% after body fluid exposure and 16.3% before aseptic action compared to hand washing at 50.6 and 16.7% respectively. Duration of HH performance was not correctly adhered to 94% of alcohol hand rub cases (mean duration 9 ± 6 s instead of 20 to 30 s) and 99.5% of hand washing cases (10 ± 7 s instead of the recommended 40 to 60 s). Of the 432 HCWs observed, 77.3% followed HH prerequisites (i.e. no artificial fingernails, no jewellery). We also noted a lack of permanent hand hygiene infrastructures such as sink, soap, towels and clean water.
Conclusion: Compliance in surgery was found to be low in Benin hospitals. They missed two opportunities out of three to apply HH and when HH was applied, technique and duration were not appropriate. HH practices should be a priority to improve patient safety in Benin.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13756-020-00748-z | DOI Listing |
J Clin Nurs
December 2024
School of Nursing, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.
Aims: To investigate the impact of the nursing practice environment, nurse staffing, working overtime and compliance with hand hygiene standards on hospital-acquired infections.
Design: A multi-source quantitative study.
Methods: Nursing data were collected from selected wards in one hospital between 18 January 2021 and 15 March 2021.
Zhonghua Yu Fang Yi Xue Za Zhi
December 2024
Office of Tianjin Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Tianjin300011, China.
To investigate the level of serum-neutralizing antibodies against Coxsackievirus A6 (CVA6) in a healthy population in Tianjin City from 2014 to 2020. From March 2014 to March 2020, 5 492 healthy volunteers were recruited in Tianjin City. The demographic information, personal hygiene habits, living environment hygiene, contact history with hand, foot and mouth disease cases within 6 months before the survey, history of upper respiratory tract infection, and medical history of the subjects were investigated using a self-designed questionnaire.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntimicrob Resist Infect Control
December 2024
Infection Control Team, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong West Cluster, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
Background: Hand hygiene is a critical component of infection prevention in healthcare settings. Innovative strategies are required to enhance hand hygiene practices among patients and healthcare workers (HCWs).
Methods: This study was conducted at the Chemotherapy Day Center of Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong.
Am J Infect Control
December 2024
Center for Research, Practice and Innovation, Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, APIC, Arlington, VA.
Background: Hand Hygiene (HH) monitoring is essential for patient and staff safety, but the optimal number of observations remains elusive. This project aimed to determine a statistically comparable number below the current standard of 100 to 200 per month per unit.
Methods: HH observations from various hospitals were grouped in strata by facility, unit, and month, then resampled into sets of 25, 50, 100, and 150 for comparison with 200.
Antimicrob Resist Infect Control
December 2024
Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, KU Leuven, Louvain, Belgium.
Background: As part of the containment of the COVID-19 pandemic, mobile handwashing stations (mHWS) were deployed in healthcare facilities in low-resource settings. We assessed mHWS in hospitals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for contamination with Gram-negative bacteria.
Methods: Water and soap samples of in-use mHWS in hospitals in Kinshasa and Lubumbashi were quantitatively cultured for Gram-negative bacteria which were tested for antibiotic susceptibility.
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