[Hospital hygiene and medical students].

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Infectious Disease Prevention
• Public Health

Context:

• Nosocomial infections pose a significant threat to patient safety and healthcare quality.
• Effective hospital hygiene practices are fundamental in mitigating infection risks.
• Medical student training plays a critical role in establishing future healthcare professionals' hygiene standards.

Purpose:

• To assess the hand hygiene habits, personal medical equipment cleaning practices, and white coat maintenance among medical students.
• To evaluate medical students' perceptions of the quality and adequacy of hospital hygiene training.
• To identify specific areas for improvement in hospital hygiene education for medical students.

Summary:

• A survey of third, fourth, and fifth-year medical students at Caen revealed that while 94% considered hygiene a priority, 46% could not differentiate between simple and antiseptic handwashing.
• Student-reported cleaning frequency for white coats (every 3.5 weeks), stethoscopes (40%), and reflex hammers (23%) indicates suboptimal personal medical equipment hygiene.
• A significant majority (66.5%) of students expressed dissatisfaction with hospital hygiene training, deeming it insufficient and impractical for their clinical duties.

Impact:

• Findings highlight a critical need to enhance medical students' understanding and application of hospital hygiene protocols.
• Improved initial training in hospital hygiene is recommended to foster better practices and reduce the incidence of nosocomial infections.
• Addressing knowledge gaps and practical training deficiencies will contribute to a safer healthcare environment.