title: Health care workers' hand decontamination practices: an Irish study.
abstract: The primary purpose of this quasi-experimental research is to observe health care workers' compliance with hand-hygiene guidelines during patient care in an intensive care unit in Ireland before (pretest) and after (posttest) implementation of a multifaceted hand-hygiene program. Health care workers' attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge in relation to compliance with handwashing guidelines were also investigated. A convenience sample of nurses, doctors, physiotherapists, and care assistants (n = 73 observational participants, n = 62 questionnaire respondents) was used. Data (N = 314 observations, 62 questionnaires) were analyzed descriptively and cross-tabulated using chi-square (Pearson's) and Mann-Whitney statistical tests. Results revealed that a significant shift (32%) occurred in health care workers' compliance with handwashing guidelines (pretest 51%, posttest 83%, p < .001) following the interventional hand-hygiene program. Significant changes were also found in relation to health care workers' attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge (p < .05).
authors.affiliation: University College Cork, Ireland. sile.creedon@ucc.ie
authors.forename: Sile A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Creedon
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001296:Audiovisual Aids; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D015987:Effect Modifier, Epidemiologic; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000592:standards*; D006235:Hand Disinfection / Q000592:standards*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training / Q000458:organization & administration*; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D007494:Ireland; D017145:Models, Educational; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010174:Pamphlets; D010564:Personnel, Hospital / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011588:Psychology, Educational; D012659:Semantic Differential; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires