The Impact of Covid-19 Outbreaks on Adherence to Hand Hygiene in A Medical Teaching Hospital: A Case of Iran

Section: Original Articles
Issue
Vol. 12 No. 1 (2024): Volume 12 Issue 1
Published
Jan 12, 2024
Pages
62-71

Abstract

Background: The new coronavirus is the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Given its rapid transmission and high prevalence, hand hygiene and personal protective equipment in health centers are some of the recommended interventions to prevent the spread of this disease. The current study aimed to investigate the effect of COVID-19 disease-related hand hygiene protocols on the rate of adherence to hand hygiene.Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in an educational hospital in southeast Iran. The rate of adherence to hand hygiene was evaluated among hospital departments and healthcare workers (HCWs) during and before the COVID-19 outbreak. Total hand hygiene was 8264 cases (736 HCWs) in the first six months of the new Iranian year during the COVID-19 outbreak (i.e., 2020-3-20 to 2020-9-21) and 4254 cases (372 HCW) at the same time in the past year (i.e., 2019-3-20 to 2019-9-21).Results: The total rate of adherence to hand hygiene increased by 22.72 points during the COVID-19 outbreak in different hospital departments (ranging from 9.23 to 58.87%). Furthermore, the absolute commitment rate to hand hygiene was greater than 70% in nurses, operating room technicians, laboratory staff, certified practical nurses, and physiotherapists during the COVID-19 outbreak.Conclusions: Although the proper implementation and supervision of infection control protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic appears to increase the rate of adherence to hand hygiene, it is not good enough. Other strategies and policies should be considered to improve adherence to hand hygiene.

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Authors

Mahboobeh Maazallahi

M.Sc. in Critical Care Nursing, Department of Critical Care Nursing, Razi Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. Email: [email protected]

Mahlagha Dehghan

Associate Professor, Department of Critical Care Nursing, Razi Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.

Maryam Jabarpour

M.Sc. in Medical-Surgical Nursing, Clinical Research Unit, Shahid Bahonar Academic Centre, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. Email: [email protected]

Jaffar Abbas

Antai College of Economics and Management and School of Media and Communication (SMC), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), Shanghai, China. Email: [email protected]

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