A study of hand hygiene technique in intensive care unit of a tertiary care hospital

Introduction: Hand hygiene (HH) has been characterized as the keystone and starting point in all infection control programs, with the hands of health-care faculty being the handler and advocates of infection in critically ill patients. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional observational study using direct observation technique. A single observer collected all HH data. This single-observer study was conducted in the 45-bedded intensive care unit (ICU) of Mahatma Gandhi Hospital. HH compliance was monitored using the hand hygiene observation form developed by the World Health Organization. A nonidentified observer was used for monitoring compliance with HH. Results and Discussion: A total of 900 observations were recorded from health-care personnel in ICU. With respect to the personnel, the nursing department had the highest number of observations as 400 circulating nurses were sampled. There were also 110 senior consultants, 250 resident doctors, and 140 paramedical staffs. Of the total opportunities, nurses had the highest number of contacts (67%), followed by allied health-care workers (82.94%). The average compliance was about 75%, which differed significantly among health-care workers, with higher compliance among the nursing staff (82.9%) followed by allied staff (67%). Of the average overall compliance of 75%, maximum compliance was seen for moment 3, that is, the staffs were very careful after body fluid contact as it was perceived important for self-protection. The HH instances after patient contact (86.29%) also suggested similarly. The nurses' compliance was 64.40% before patient contact and 68.35% after touching surroundings. Conclusion: The observance of HH is still low in our local environment. Handwashing practices in our study show that health-care workers pay attention to HH, when it appears, there is a direct observable threat to their well-being. Educational programs need to be developed to address the issue of poor HH.