Compliance with hand hygiene and glove change in a general hospital, Mashhad, Iran: an observational study

Hand hygiene is the single most important element of strategies to prevent health care-associated infections. However, handwashing rates among health care workers have ranged from 9% to 50%. This observation took place as a structured, overt strategy to assess the hospital staff's hand hygiene compliance. The study was carried out in Imam Reza General Hospital, Mashhad, Iran.

All hospital staff, including physicians, nurses, and unlicensed assistive personnel in 4 randomly selected wards, were observed by 2 infection control nurse specialists for 5 observation periods on each ward. The observation was overt, and observers compiled data by filling out 2 checklists. All staff knew that they were being observed, and the observers made no interventions.

The overall compliance with hand hygiene activities was 47.9% (438 episodes out of 913 potential opportunities) and, with sole emphasis on handwashing, was only 8.5%.

Inappropriate glove use might be a component of poor hand hygiene compliance. Training campaigns should be implanted for health care personnel and all hospital staff to re-emphasize the importance of adherence to hand hygiene protocols.