Hand Hygiene Compliance by Nurses and Midwives during the COVID-19 Pandemic An Observational Study in Southern Iran

 
Despite frequent recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO), hand hygiene compliance (HHC) is an ongoing challenge among health care workers (HCWs).
 
This study aimed to evaluate the HHC in Iranian nurses and midwives during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
This observational study was conducted on 200 nurses and midwives working in two hospitals in Jiroft, Iran in 2021. Data were collected using a demographic information checklist and the WHO Hand Hygiene Observation Form. Data analysis was performed using the MannWhitney U, Chi-square, Kruskal-Wallis, and Spearman correlation coefficient tests.
 
The average percentage of HHC in the nurses and midwives was 51.3%. HHC before touching the patient and before doing a clean/aseptic procedure was at the lowest rate (33.5% and 49%, respectively) but was at the highest rate (81.8%) after a body fluid exposure risk.
 
The HHC rates were low among nurses and midwives during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is essential to implement interventions to promote HHC in HCWs, especially in pandemic conditions.