Study of hand hygiene behavior among nurses in Critical Care Units

The role of hands is well known as a leading cause of infection transmission in hospitals, and hands hygiene is the first step recommended for infection control. This study was conducted to evaluate hand hygiene behavior among critical care nurses. In this study in 2009, hands hygiene behavior was unobviously monitored in 159 hand-sanitizing situations among critical care units nurses, and their behavioral status as well as the patients profile and the performed procedure were recorded in a checklist designed based on national guidelines of disease control and protection. Data were analyzed by SPSS17 statistical software using descriptive analytical tests. The observed nurses wore glove in 150 situations (94.3 percent); whereas, they attempted to sanitize their hands only in 27 positions (16.98 percent), from which alcohol was used in 20 cases (74 percent), and soap and water and plain water in other situations. Most cases of hand hygiene were following the contact with patients. There was a significant relationship between the glove types used by nurses and infection risk of the observed procedure with hands hygiene (p <0.05). The study findings indicate that percentage of situations in which nurses attempted to sanitize their hands has been much less than expected.