To Evaluate the Hand Hygiene Practices among Health-Care Workers Visiting Intensive Care Unit of a Tertiary Care Hospital: An Observational Study

Introduction Hands are the main pathways of germ transmission during health care. Hand hygiene is therefore the most important measure to avoid the transmission of harmful germs and prevent health care-associated infections. Methods We observed 120 heath care workers in medical icu of a tertiary care hospital for compliance of hand hygiene technique, majority were postgraduates. Physicians, nurses and interns were also included. We initially observed for compliance of hand hygiene and conducted a seminar on hand hygiene technique with video and live demonstration following they were reassessed again for compliance of hand hygiene technique. Results Our initial results showed 60.8 % of compliance which increased to 68.3 % after educational program. The effective hand washing was found in 57.5 % of participants initially and in 65.8 % after seminar.65 % participants used hand rub initially which increased to 70 % in second assessment. On individual assessment showed that compliance among physicians was 82 % in the first part increased to 89 % after conducting seminar, among postgraduates before it was 55 % and after educational program it was 67 %, among interns it remained same (20 %) before as well as after seminar. Among nurses the compliance was 75 % initially and increased to 81 % after conducting educational program on hand hygiene technique. Conclusion Hence to conclude there is need for more such educational programs to achieve better compliance for hand wash hygiene which eventually prevent health care associated infections.