Hand hygiene attitudes of healthcare staff working in intensive care unit of a state hospital

Abstract

Objective: The purpose in this research is to evaluate hand hygiene the attitudes of healthcare staff working in intensive care unit of state hospital of a province in Eastern Anatolia Region. Methods: The research was conducted by applying to a survey to healthcare personnel delivering patient care and treatment services in coronary, anesthesia and internal medicine intensive care clinics of a state hospital located in Eastern Anatolia Region. The universe of the research is comprised of 51 healthcare staff working in this hospital and was conducted on the basis of voluntary participation with whole of the universe of the research (51 people) (Response rate: 100%). Survey form used in the research was developed by researchers in compliance with literature information. Data were evaluated in statistic packaged software. Results: The average age of the people attending the study is 31,66±7,34 (min: 18, max: 56) and 53% of them is woman and 54,9% is nurse. The most prefered method of hand washing is (at the rate of 68,6%) water and soap and also it was found that 84,3% of the frequency of hand washing is expressed as often. On the other hand, it was detected that 23,5% of the participants could not was their hands because of deficiency of material, 11,8% because of lack of time arising from intense work load, 7,8% because of occurrence of irritation in their hands. Conclusion: Hand washing behavior of staff working at public hospital in intensive care is not at desirable level, and also the physical conditions are not sufficient for this case. For this reason, it is significant that staff in state hospital rendering service in primary areas such as intensive care unit should be subjected to on-the-job trainings with repetitive applications to maintain the health of both themselves and the individuals they render care service at an optimum level and to gain attitude of hand washing with scientific methods and in this sense, it is important to provide technical and adequate equipment to the hospital.