Assessment of hand hygiene of nursing and medical students

Vanessa Dias da Silva; Joselany Áfio Caetano; Leonardo Alexandrino da Silva; Marta Maria Costa Freitas; Paulo César de Almeida; Jorge Luís Nobre Rodrigues

doi:10.15253/2175-6783.2017000200016

Authors

Vanessa Dias da Silva Faculdade Grande Fortaleza
Joselany Áfio Caetano Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza-CE
Leonardo Alexandrino da Silva Universidade Federal do Ceará
Marta Maria Costa Freitas Hospital Universitário Walter Cantídio
Paulo César de Almeida Universidade Estadual do Ceará
Jorge Luís Nobre Rodrigues Hospital Universitário Walter Cantídio

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15253/2175-6783.2017000200016

Keywords:

Hand Disinfection, Infection Control, Students, Nursing, Medical.

Abstract

Objective: to verify the ability of nursing and medical academics related to hand hygiene technique. Methods: this is a cross-sectional study carried out with 61 academics. Hands hygiene with 70.0% alcohol gel was used, in which Visirub® fluorescent dye was added, which allowed observing areas not contemplated during hand hygiene and investigation of the eight steps recommended by the World Health Organization. Results: 35.7% of nursing academics and 15.1% of medical students used the hand hygiene technique with 70.0% alcohol gel following the eight recommended steps. The least accomplished steps by the nursing academics were “rubbing the back of each hand with the back of the other”, as 46.4% did not perform it. Among medicine students, the least accomplished step was “rubbing the back of the fingers with the palm of the other hand”, by 63.6%. No scholar was able to contemplate all areas. Conclusion: no academic has been able to perform hand hygiene in all areas properly, hence the need to reinforce the correct technique.