title: Respiratory hygiene in emergency departments: compliance, beliefs, and perceptions.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Low respiratory hygiene compliance among health care workers of emergency departments has become a major concern in the spread of respiratory infections. Our objective was to determine the compliance with respiratory hygiene of triage nurses at 2 university hospital centers and to identify factors influencing compliance to the respiratory hygiene principles of emergency health care workers.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 2-part, cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted at 2 training centers. An anonymous observation of compliance with respiratory hygiene by triage emergency nurses was performed. A self-administered, voluntary questionnaire on attitudes, perceptions, and knowledge of respiratory hygiene guidelines was distributed to the health care workers at the emergency department of the 2 hospital sites.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median objective compliance with respiratory hygiene measures of triage nurses was 22% (interquartile range [IQR], 11%-33%). Median perceived compliance of the health care workers was 68% (IQR, 61%-79%). Median actual knowledge score was 75% (IQR, 75%-100%). Overall, 91.9% of respondents believed that the mask was an effective preventive measure. The main obstacles toward mask wearing by the health care worker were "tendency to forget" (37.8%) and "discomfort" (35.1%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The compliance rate at our institution is very low. We identified a few factors affecting adherence to respiratory hygiene measures that are of potential use in targeting groups and formulating recommendations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Pediatric Pulmonary Division, Sherbrooke University Hospital, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martel
authors.forename: Eva-Flore
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Bui-Xuan
authors.forename: Anne-Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Carreau
authors.forename: Jean-Daniel
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Carrier
authors.forename: Emilie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Larkin
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vlachos-Mayer
authors.forename: Mario-Eddy
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Dumas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008397:Masks / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult