BACKGROUND: Hand washing and disinfection in the regular nursing practice is the cheapest and the most effective way to decrease hospital infections by preventing the microorganism transmission among patients. An attempt to analyze hand hygiene habits among nurses was the aim of this study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A randomly selected group of 150 nurses (146 women and 4 men, aged 22-56, mean, 32 years) participated in the study. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The obtained results allow to state that hygiene rules concerning hand washing and disinfection were followed by the members of the study group during performing most of the operations. The only exception were procedures applied when nursing and assisting patients. The nurses reported irritating properties of disinfectants as the most common reasons for neglecting hand hygiene. However, they also pointed to other reasons, such as lack of hand washing habit, laziness, lack of awareness among nurses, negligence, routine, thoughtlessness, lack of disposable towels, and shortage of nursing staff. A statistically significant difference in hand hygiene behavior was found between nurses from surgical and non-surgical wards.
BACKGROUND: Hand washing and disinfection in the regular nursing practice is the cheapest and the most effective way to decrease hospital infections by preventing the microorganism transmission among patients. An attempt to analyze hand hygiene habits among nurses was the aim of this study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A randomly selected group of 150 nurses (146 women and 4 men, aged 22-56, mean, 32 years) participated in the study. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The obtained results allow to state that hygiene rules concerning hand washing and disinfection were followed by the members of the study group during performing most of the operations. The only exception were procedures applied when nursing and assisting patients. The nurses reported irritating properties of disinfectants as the most common reasons for neglecting hand hygiene. However, they also pointed to other reasons, such as lack of hand washing habit, laziness, lack of awareness among nurses, negligence, routine, thoughtlessness, lack of disposable towels, and shortage of nursing staff. A statistically significant difference in hand hygiene behavior was found between nurses from surgical and non-surgical wards.