Healthcare staff's attitude on hand hygiene and exposure to contaminated materials

Abstract

Aim: Healthcare staff may be exposed to many risks as part of their profession. Infection control and prevention measures aim to reduce risks to the hospital and healthcare staff. This study evaluated knowledge and attitudes of healthcare staff for hand hygiene and exposure to contaminated materials. Material and Method: The descriptive study was conducted among healthcare staff who volunteered to participate. Data were obtained using survey forms covering subject-related knowledge and attitudes of the healthcare staff. The study was conducted with 85 participants. Results: In this study, the numbers of times health care workers applied hand hygiene were grouped as "50 and below" and "over 50," to indicate fewer or more than 50 times each day, and the rates were detected as 49% and 51% respectively. When asked which occupation group complied with hand hygiene most often in the work unit, the answers were as follows: nurses 81%, physicians 11%, and cleaning staff 8%. The most common answer to the question about the primary purpose of washing hands was to protect oneself (66%), followed by prevent transporting microorganisms (34%). Discussion: It is not easy to systematically measure belief and compliance; however, it is important and useful to evaluate the training needs of healthcare staff with questionnaires and observations at certain intervals and to organize in-service training programs continuously. This study has shown that there are still details to be corrected in terms of practices and attitudes despite training provided, that it is necessary to cover these details in training, and that the continuity of these studies should be ensured.