Essay On Hand Hygiene Compliance

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This literature review will analyze and critically explore four studies that have been conducted on hand hygiene compliance rates by Healthcare workers (HCWs). Firstly, it will look at compliance rates for HCWs in the intensive care units (ICU) and then explore the different factors that contribute to low hand hygiene compliance. Hospital Acquired infections (HAI) or Nosocomial Infections appear worldwide, affecting both developed and poor countries. HAIs represent a major source of morbidity and mortality, especially for patients in the ICU (Hugonnet, Perneger, & Pittet, 2002). Hand hygiene can be defined as any method that destroys or removes microorganisms on hands (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009). According to the World Health Organization (2002), a HAI can be defined as an infection occurring in a patient in a hospital or other health care facility in whom the infection was not present or incubating at the time of admission. The hands of HCWs transmit majority of the endemic infections. As …show more content…

Interestingly, two studies of the four compared the compliance rates of HCWs in particular nurses and physicians. Sharma, Puri, Sharma, & Whig (2011) found in their study that compliance rates for hand hygiene protocols was significantly higher for physicians (50.8%) as a opposed to nurses (41.3%). In contrast, Mathai, George, & Abraham (2011) had conflicting findings in which higher compliance rates were associated with nurses (45%) in comparison to physicians (17%). Both studies had similar sample sizes and were investigated in developing countries India and Pakistan; nonetheless, language barriers and varying educational levels of different staff groups, may have influenced the understanding of the need for effective hand hygiene (Mathai et al., 2011). Of four studies, three were observational studies, which provide opportunity to question the rigour of the

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