Hand hygiene compliance among the nursing staff in freestanding nursing homes in Taiwan: a preliminary study
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Updated: May 2, 2026

A Method to Test the Efficacy of Handwashing for the Removal of Emerging Infectious Pathogens
Published on: June 7, 2017
Wen-I Liu1, Shu-Yuan Liang, Shu-Fang Vivienne Wu
1School of Nursing, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, Taipei, Taiwan.
Abstract:
This study aimed to explore the hand hygiene compliance among the nursing staff in Taiwanese freestanding nursing homes. A descriptive observational research design was used. A total of 782 opportunities for hand hygiene were observed by one trained research assistant in two freestanding nursing homes. The hand-hygiene observation tool was used to assess hand hygiene practice. The overall hand hygiene compliance among nursing staff in nursing homes was only 11.3%. Results further showed that the compliance was greater after contact with body fluids (odds ratio = 6.9, confidence interval (CI) = 3.75-9.88, P = 0.000) and lower before the performance of aseptic procedures (odds ratio = 0.15, CI = 0.04-0.63, P = 0.003) when compared with other activities. Hand hygiene compliance was relatively low among the nursing staff in freestanding nursing homes in Taiwan. To comprehensively analyze this issue, further research involving a larger number of nursing homes and strategies to improve compliance with hand hygiene among the nursing staff at these institutions is needed.
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