Hand hygiene compliance among health care staff and student nurses in a mental health setting.

Hand hygiene practice among health care workers is considered to be the single most effective method of preventing nosocomial infection in hospital settings. Infection control practices in psychiatric facilities are particularly challenging as hand hygiene protocols are specific to acute care facilities, areas where hands are visibly soiled, and when procedures are completed that may involve body fluid exposure. The inability to motivate and change the hand washing practices of health care workers suggests that hand washing behaviour is complex, involving individual beliefs and attitudes and institutional commitment and rigor.